Save Me From Myself
by Batman's Favorite Daughter
Summary: I was only a child, but that did not mean I saw no evil. I then had to grow up in the shadow of my uncle, alone and hidden from time. No one to talk to, except the darkness. All I could see, around every corner, was darkness. I was alone... Until now. The stage is set, but the lines between good and evil are blurred. Will I choose correctly?
1. Chapter 1

_In the dark recesses of the mind, a disease known as FEAR feasts upon the souls of those who cannot overcome its power...And so, fear is forced deep within the soul of a hero. Conquered... at least, for now..._

_You may know of the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman. You might even know about Jack Frost._

_I know all their stories. A giant bunny who goes around hiding eggs for children to find in the morning, a jolly old fat man who delivers presents, a fairy who goes around collecting teeth and leaving money in its place, a man who gives good dreams to all of the children around the world, and a grouchy old man who brings cold sensations and changes the leaves. I also know they are not exactly true. _

_But I bet you've never heard of me. Unlike those happy-go-lucky idiots, there isn't any well-known stories about me. Actually, I bet there is no stories at all. _

_Except for this. _

_My name is Kathryn, and this is my story. _

_. . ._

"I called you all here because... Pitch is back." North announced once Tooth arrived, causing everyone to look at him, horrified.

"What?" Bunnymund said. Jack jumped down from the ledge he was sitting on, freezing one of the elves, for the others could play hockey.

"Man in Moon told me so. He also said Pitch is stronger now. Too strong for even Jack." North said.

"Well how can we beat him?" Jack questioned.

Before anyone could say anything, the moon rose up, appearing in the skylight of the Pole, and the rays of the moonlight shined into the room, twirling up and up until it formed the shape of a man. It was the Man in The Moon. Then, he spoke.

"This is the first time I have talked to all of you at once, in my physical form," the Man in the Moon said. "But desperate times call for desperate measures."

He was a good-looking, oddly enough, young-looking man. He was about 6"2 and looked to be about 25 to 30 years old. He was very pale, and had light blond hair. He had icey blue eyes. His skin was flawless, and he had a mischievous glint in his eye. He was quite handsome.

"How are we going to beat Pitch if he's even to strong for Frost?" Bunnymund asked.

"The children can't help you this time. Pitch Black has returned after 2 ½ years with new powers, but stronger, and hungrier for revenge, but he's not just targeting the children; he's targeting _everyone_. So I have chosen a new guardian, but Pitch wants to use the new guardian for his own purposes." the Man in the Moon said simply.

"Who is he?" Bunnymund asked. He quietly muttered. "Please don't say the groundhog, please don't say the groundhog..."

"She." the Man in the Moon corrected. Everyone stared at him.

"It's a girl?" Bunnymund and North groaned.

"It's a girl!" Tooth cheered.

Jack showed no reaction. Bunnymund and North were groaning and trying to convince themselves that he couldn't always be right, and maybe the new Guardian would be a boy. Jack didn't understand why it was so important to them that the Guardian would be male instead of female. He didn't want a new Guardian, but since there was one more, it only made sense that it was a girl. Tooth was the only female Guardian, out of the five of them.

"So why is Pitch going after her?" Jack asked.

"Pitch knows that if he can get her on his side, he will be unstoppable. He will have the powers of darkness and light. He also knows something that I was hoping to keep a secret from all of you, especially her. The new Guardian, is my niece. That is all you need to know at the moment. I need you to convince her to come with you before Pitch can get to her. No need to ask her to be a Guardian yet, first I just need to know she's safe." the Man in the Moon said.

"I'll get her." Tooth offered. "She probably loves fairies. How old is she anyway?" The Man in the Moon chuckled. He had a warm, nice laugh.

"She looks like she's about the same age as Jack, if not she appears to be a bit younger. But she's been around for longer than any of you. She is a bit of a loner, but she is quite trusting of others although she is very wary in the beginning. It might take a while for her to warm up to you all, as will it for you." he said. "She only has one companion, named Zero."

Bunnymund glanced at Jack. He was staring at the Man in the Moon, in deep thought. "But anyway, forgive me Tooth Fairy, but she is VERY fickle. She doesn't exactly like me, or any of you, so she's definitely a rebel, of sorts. She's going to be hard to sneak up on, and even harder to bring back here." the Man in the Moon said.

"I'll go. I've already dealt with ONE irresponsible kid." Bunnymund said, looking at Jack.

"Hey!" Jack pouted.

"Easter Bunny, you may find her in Paris, France. At the Palais Garnier. I told her a long time ago that was her home -like the Pole is you to, North, and the Warren is to you, Bunnymund- so hopefully she's still there. Her name is Kathryn." he said.

And with that, the Man in the Moon disappeared, and Bunnymund was off.

. . .

I walked up on the rafters, watching all the people below. I scoffed_. _Perfect hair, perfect clothes_, urg. _Every night, so many people come in the Palais Garnier. So many people, and none can see me.

I was used to it at this point. I watched the operas sometimes, and I had my own little hideaway down under the Palais Garnier in the catacombs that nobody knew about.

It was funny, because one of my little jokes had developed into the opera "The Phantom of The Opera". If only they knew that _Erik _was an _Erin._

The de Changy case, in real life, the Mortensen case, was just an accident that everyone blamed on me. Philippe had simply just _drowned. _I had no part in it. Believe me, I did nothing. Philippe was actually a close friend of mine. We were in a... secret relationship, I guess.

The deaths and the disappearances, pure stupidity. The only part I had in the story was the chandelier, the disappearing francs, and anything in Box Five. But I never hurt anyone. That's where the story and reality got blurred and creativity came in. With the chandelier story, the story of the injured and that one woman died, was not true. The chandelier fell harmlessly on the stage, and anyone that could've been hit moved. I didn't hurt anyone. And that woman, she went home and had a heart attack. _I didn't hurt anyone._

There was only one good part of living here. Down in the catacombs under the Palais, you could go anywhere you wanted, it was quiet, and I felt at peace down there. I was alone. It was perfect.

I was _at home. _

After everything that had happened with the Phantom of the Opera story, nobody has tried to get to my lake-side retreat, except the author, Gaston Leroux. I had closed off all the entrances. It was easy to get in still, with my powers.

I still aloud people to come in the Communards' dungeon. Gaston had discovered two of my traps with pivoting doors unknown to the machinists of the Opera House, who only used traps with horizontally sliding doors.

I rested my staff over my shoulders, and stopped. I watched the people come and go, and listened to the organ being played. I sighed, and rose up to the roof. I passed through the ceiling, and looked up at the stars.

"I'm just another shadow..." I mumbled, flying across to the next roof.

I hopped from roof to roof, absentmindedly tapping my staff against chimes and the ground, making a tune that went along with the organ, that I could still hear.

I flew down to the graveyard, where my dog was. His name was Zero. Zero usually stayed down in the catacombs with me, but his real grave was here. Last time we had gone somewhere together, he stayed here.

Yeah, Zero was dead. He was a ghost. He was my only friend in the world, and I was perfectly fine with that.

I flew back up to one of the roofs, Zero close behind. He turned translucent in the moonlight. I looked up at the moon.

Angry suddenly bubbled up in my stomach at the sight of the bright, full moon. "So is this why I'm here? For nobody to see me?" I yelled at it.

Just as quickly as it had appeared, my angry disappeared. I slumped down to the ground and crossed my legs. I buried my head in my hands. Zero whimpered and lay down next to me.

"Jack Frost has a story. Santa Claus has a story. The Easter Bunny, Sandman, the Tooth Fairy, they all have stories. Why would you do this to me?" I asked, tears forming and rolling down my face.

_Nothing. _

I grumbled and stood back up. I wiped my cheeks and I flew to a nearby lake. I slid around, my staff disappearing back into my locket.

My locket was charmed. I could never open it though, it needed a small key. But my staff would always shrink down and disappear into my locket when I didn't need it. I never understood it, but I guess it was charmed to hold it.

The call of a raven was what broke me out of my thoughts. I smiled.

I whistled and the raven dissolved from the darkness of the trees, landing on a branch next to my head. Zero looked up at it.

"Hi buddy." I said.

The raven watched me intently, then looked down at Zero. I scratched its head. It pressed its head into my hand, as I petted its feathers. It cooed.

"You should get going back to your family little guy." I told it.

The raven cocked his head at me, shook its whole body to fix his feathers, and flew off into the night. I went out on to a frozen lake, that glowed under the moonlight.

I closed my eyes, taking in the night. I skated around in silence for a bit, Zero staying off to the side. Despite being a ghost, for some reason, Zero couldn't stand being over frozen water. Lakes, he was fine. Frozen water? He hated it.

I understood why though. When he was alive, his owners beat him. Sent him outside during snowstorms. One day, he ran away. He ran over a lake, and he was on thin ice. He fell through and froze to death.

I took a liking to him because he was abandoned, like me. When Zero came back as a ghost, he was pure white and fluffy, and looked like a normal white dog. He was partially see through when he walked passed lights. He floated above the ground, like I did most of the time, and he had long ears that floated back and up. His nose was a little glowing jack-o-lantern. When he barked, everyone else understood it to be a bark, but I knew what he was saying.

I then heard voices.

"Oui oui! J'ai pense que j'entendu quelque chose ici!*" a little boy called.

I saw some kids running up a narrow path to the lake, and I smirked. They looked so young. So naïve. I flew over to them, and circled around them. Zero flew behind me, as he always did.

"Let's play the everyone doesn't believe in me game!" I mused to myself.

"Il n'y a pas de chose ici Garret, tu est stupide.*" a girl said.

"1." I counted.

"Pourquoi est-ce que tu droit alle quelque place chaque fois que tu pense que tu entend quelque chose qui n'existe pas?*" another boy asked.

"Oh! 2 for 2!" I said. I floated around them.

"Okay... Cette rien.*" the little boy, I'm guessing him name was Garret, said.

"And 3 for 3." I said.

The kids ran off, and I flew up in the sky. I watched as the golden stream of sand appeared through the sky.

"And in comes Sandman." I said. "Right on time."

I watched the streams for a bit, looking at all the little dreams. A piece of my hair fell in my face. I could always fix my hair, redo it and put it up again, but I guess it was a force of habit to have it fall in my face and me to tuck it behind my ear.

I floated down to the streets, and decided to cut through the alleyways to get back to the Palais Garnier. Zero barked, asking if he was staying with me. I nodded. I paused, then smiled.

"Hi rabbit." I said, turning on my heel.

"How did you hear me?" he asked, pouting as well as a rabbit could pout.

"I thought you'd know me better by now." I said, smirking, my ears morphing into bat ears. They changed back. "So why 'ya here?"

"North wants to see you." he said.

I quickly turned and dodged the yeti. Zero started growling at Bunnymund. "Oh hush up Zero." I said. "Your tricks are getting old, rabbit. And I know tricks." I smiled.

I blended into the shadows, and Zero did the same. I snuck up behind him.

"Boo." I whispered in his ears. I cackled when he jumped.

"Fine. How do you want to go?" he asked, rolling his eyes.

I smiled, and hit my staff twice against the ground. "The fun way." I said, smiling as the hole opened, swallowing us up.

. . .

Bunnymund got thrown out of the portal first. He landed flat on his face. Kathryn appeared a few seconds after, sitting on her staff like a witch on a broomstick. A small white figure was sitting closely behind her.

She laughed, which sounded more like a cackle, and smiled. The white figure barked, and North realized it was a dog. He gulped. The dog was see-through. It was a ghost.

"Why you not take my portal?" North asked.

"She said she wanted to take the 'fun way'." Bunnymund grumbled. "That was horrifying."

She smiled, and North noticed that she had incisors. He found it a bit ironic, due to her creepy appearance, that she had fangs. "Yeah, if you're a baby. I think it's fun!" she said.

"What did you want me for?" she asked, looking at him. Her florescent poison green eyes startled North.

"Man in Moon said to bring you here. You have been chosen to be guardian!" North exclaimed. They had expected her to be a little fickle, but she simply laughed.

"Yeah, right." she said, smirking, she turned to leave.

"No! You are guardian!" North said.

"What makes you think I want to be a Guardian?" she asked. Bunnymund smirked and nudged Jack.

"Where have I heard that before?" he chuckled. Jack laughed slightly, but he was more focused on _her. _

She just looked _so _different. He'll admit, he wore dark blue hoodies and stuff, but the Guardians were mostly light happy colors. Anything but what she was wearing.

Her eyes were the first thing he noticed. They were bright and noticeable. They were a toxic green color. They glimmered, and she looked like she was always planning something. He just didn't know what.

Her hair was long, straight, and light brown. It was almost the color of cinnamon. She had her hair up in a messy bun on top of her head, with some pieces of her hair falling gently down next to her face. She was very pale, and her skin looked like paper against her bones. It wasn't to the point she looked like a living skeleton, but she was still a very small girl. She looked maybe sixteen or seventeen, about Jack's age, and sure, she was pretty; but with that angry expression on her face didn't match up. The Man in the Moon had been right. She didn't like them at all.

She had a black choker on, with a short chain locket that seemed to be attached to it on the sides. She wore black gladiator sandals, that went up above her knees. Her dress was a dark onyx color, the skirt looking ripped and in tatters, with florescent green fabric in throughout it, only slightly duller than her eyes. Her shoulders were bare, but the dress was designed with long sleeves. The sleeves were white and ripped, and went down to her hands, stopping once it was at the knuckle of her thumb. They looked like fingerless gloves.

She held her staff tightly. Her staff looked similar to Jack's, except it was darker and there were white spider webs by her hand.

Nothing like a Guardian.

Before anyone else could speak, they heard malicious laughter. They looked up to the globe, and saw _him. _Pitch was standing on top of the globe.

"I must say, this is even more exciting than the last time I gathered you all here..." he said, with that same sarcastic amusement.

Jack stepped a little closer to Kathryn, almost protectively. She made a face. _I don't need you to protect me, _she thought.

"Is... is that who I think it is?" Pitch asked, actually sounding a bit surprised. He almost gasped. Kathryn stiffened and looked over her should to see the dark robed man behind her.

Pitch smirked. "Ah, it is..." he suddenly appeared next to her. Zero growled. Pitch shot him a look, and Zero whimpered, hiding behind Jack.

"Tell me my dear, how does it feel to have the weight of the world on your shoulders? Is it everything you've always hoped for? Especially when life and death courses through your very veins, and big uncle Manny watching you, expecting the world." he asked mockingly.

Kathryn clenched her jaw and her green eyes started turning electric yellow. "I _don't. _I don't want anything to do with you, my uncle, _or _the Guardians." she growled.

He disappeared again, "Ah, a feisty one she is..." he mused. "Always has been, I supposed. Never could quite get over your birth father's death..."

"DON'T TALK ABOUT THAT. YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HIM." she screamed, and then she made a face. "Wait, what was that?" she asked herself in nearly a whisper.

The Guardians looked at Kathryn and Pitch. They were surprised. Kathryn showed no fear against him. She looked at him with a stone cold expression.

Kathryn wasn't scared of him. _He should be scared of me, _she thought.

"But I do, my dear. I know more about your birth father than you could ever know." Pitch said. "It's been so long since I've felt this powerful... when was it? Ah, yes.. since the Dark Ages... I've never felt so alive in centuries. And you haven't changed much since then, Kathryn."

Kathryn's expression weakened. He reappeared again, his arms crossed. "But you almost ruined my time before the Guardians were even formed. You kept distracting me from my work. Especially when you met that Philippe..." he spat, glaring at her.

She scowled back defiantly. Pitch looked at her for a minute, but then his expression softened," But no matter. All of that's behind us now. I've come to give you an offer." he said.

"Well I'm not interested." she said after a moment. Her staff appeared back in her hands and she seemed ready to leave.

"You've longed for your memories, haven't you? You've asked your uncle to reveal who your father was, and to get your memories back." Pitch said. Kathryn froze, lowering her arms. Pitch chuckled. "Well then meet me _sous la Palais Garnier, dans une semaine, ma petite.*"_

"She isn't interested." Tooth said.

The Guardians stood protectively in front of the girl, and Kathryn's brave front suddenly disappeared. She started to shy away. She bit her lip, and that was all the answer Pitch needed.

"My work is done here. That's all I came for! I don't want to cause any trouble," Pitch said, smiling.

"You? Since when have YOU not wanted to cause TROUBLE?" Jack asked.

"Normally I would agree, but now all I wanted to do was give my darling Kathryn here my offer." Pitch said. He turned to leave.

"Oh, and Kathryn? The broken puppet sits high in the trees, darling did you look for me? No strings attached, and you've been up there so long you've been going crazy. The sun went down, and the puppet fell down, forgotten by sound. The world didn't care, the little puppet was scared, alone and smothered by darkness." Pitch recited, as if he was reading a book.

None of the guardians understood his nonsense babbling, but Kathryn turned a sickly gaunt color, and fell to her knees. North kneeled down next to her, placing a hand on her back. She was as cold as ice.

"What did you say?" North demanded.

Pitch smirked all the while making an innocent face. "Nothing. I'm just helping her remember, seeing the little Fairy here never bothered too." he said.

And then he wrapped his cloak around himself and disappeared, just like that.

North helped Kathryn stand again. Her legs were weak, but she leaned on her staff. New spider webs because spinning around her staff. She was clearly shaken. "What was that thing he told you?" Jack asked.

Kathryn started floating again. Zero barked quietly, content, and began to lick her palm.

"I-I don't know. I think - I think it was a story from when I was a kid... But how would he of all people know that?" she said.

Everyone was silent for a minute. "I want to go home." she said quietly.

"Okay. We'll take you back to the Palais-" North began.

"No. I was to go to my house. My _old _house. From when I was a kid. And I need all of you to come with me." she said.

They all looked to each other, and then they nodded. "We will come. Can you tell us where it is sweety?" Tooth asked.

"No. I want to go in my tunnels. They'll know the way." she said. Her staff appeared in her hand and Zero seemed to be smiling. She tapped the ground with the end.

The ground opened up underneath their feet.

Kathryn's tunnels were similar to Bunnymunds. The only differences were that her tunnels were a lot darker. Giggling Jack-O-Lanterns lined the tunnel walls, being the only light source besides Sandy. Their lights illuminated the tunnel. The sound was high-pitched and kind of whispery, but loud enough for all of us to hear. It was so creepy it gave everyone a prickly feeling on the back of their necks. Jack looked into a darker part of the tunnel, and bats flew out, screeching. Tombstones littered the ground. Music could be heard, and despite the fact it was very elegant music, it made everything have an eerie sense. Kathryn wasn't at all fazed by it. She was flying ahead of the ground, arms out wide, and a toothy smile of her face. Zombie dogs that looked like a decomposed version of Zero, without the flight ability, came out of their caves in the piles of bones and barked at us. Zero barked in reply. The pumpkins all sang a quiet tune, disturbingly happy tune.

"Everyone hail to the Pumpkin Queen! The future of Halloween! Queen Queen Queen!"

They then got thrown from her tunnels, only Jack, Tooth, and Kathryn landed okay, due to their ability to fly. Sandy floated up, and North and Bunnymund groaned.

They looked around, and realized they were in the woods. It was dark, but fireflies suddenly seemed to be drawn to them, as they gathered close to the ground, giving a lighted path. A few more swarmed around Kathryn's hands and face.

"How did you do that?" Bunnymund asked.

"I dunno. I never actually figured out all my tricks, but it works with a lot of different animals and bugs. Spiders, fireflies, owls, bats, ravens, crows, that kinda stuff. They kinda just come when I need them, I don't know how though." she shrugged.

They walked forwards for a bit, everyone following closely behind Kathryn. "Kathryn, I'm not sure anything is out - "Jack started after what felt like they had been walking for an hour. "- here."

They came across an overgrown, abandoned cottage-like home. The wood was rotted, and there were holes in some places. Plants had overgrown the place, and other than that, the house looked like it was once a beautiful place. Kathryn paused.

"I forgot about his place..." she whispered.

"What?" they said.

"I can't remember anything up to a few years ago. It was like all the memories before that were just all _gone. _I remembered who I was, and what the Man in the Moon told me about the Palais Garnier, but I couldn't remember anything else. But something was calling me back here, and now I remember. I grew up here." she said.

She walked towards the door, and raised a shaky hand to the doorknob. She suddenly froze. "The door is rotted shut." she said disappointingly.

And then she did something that both shocked and amazed everyone. _She passed through the door. _Like a ghost. The door opened, and Kathryn smiled her toothy smile.

"Fixed it." she said.

North chuckled, and Jack rolled his eyes. _Oh, of course. The creepy dead nightmare vampire girl can also pass through stuff. Like a ghost, _he thought. _I should've known. _

They followed her into the old house, and everyone looked around. It looked pretty clean and tidy, if the cobwebs, moss, plants and animals hadn't taken refuge in the shelter.

Old dishes were still in cabinets, despite one cabinet being so rotted, the bottom had a hole in it. There was still furniture, and they could see bedrooms. There was one with a big bed, another room that looked the most untouched of them all, and one more off to the side.

"What's that?" Tooth asked, pointing at a dark stain on the floor. It was a disturbing color of dark crimson red.

Kathryn stared at the spot on the floor, as if she was trying to look at it long enough she'd remember how it got there. After about a minute and a half, she bit her lip.

"I can't remember. Probably just an animal dragging its kill in from the cold winter." she muttered.

She ran her fingers across the wall, and closed her eyes. She took a breath, and walked forward, keeping her hand to the wall. They followed slowly, as she walked into the smallest room off to the side.

In the bedroom, there was a small old-fashioned bed, that looked like it couldn't fit someone any older than a nine year old. Kathryn made a choking noise, like her breath caught in her throat.

"This was my room..." she whispered, half to herself, and half to the Guardians.

And then with a blink of an eye she threw herself on the floor in front of an old-looking toy bin. She hesitated, and then she pulled it open and immediately dug through it until she picked up a framed picture. The frame looked to be solid gold, and untouched by age.

But obviously, the photo inside had been. Kathryn took an angry, shaky breath, and closed her eyes. She opened them, and stared intently at the picture. Something sparked on her arm, and then a flame circled up around her arm, eventually going to the edge of the photo. She dropped it, shrugging. But the flame wasn't spreading to the floor. It just stayed on the picture.

She quickly grabbed a few other things in the room, putting them in a small bag, and started floating again."I'll become a Guardian." she said quietly, before going out of the room.

The Guardians followed her, and Jack looked at the photo on the ground. It was of a small girl, no more than five, holding on to what seemed to be her mother's hand, with a straight expression. She looked tired. Worn. He knew it was Kathryn, because of her cinnamon hair and her piercing green eyes. Then, the corner of the picture had been smeared with mud and rain.

He assumed that was where her father had been.

* * *

**Okay, so this story isn't exactly like the Rise of the Guardians hype and all that, I kinda changed it. When I watched the movie, I never actually understood why if someone is kinda dark, misunderstood, and likes creepier things than everyone else, they automatically are the villain. I mean, they don't have to be evil! So that is how I created Kathryn, on that thought. She's based mostly on me. I wanted to make her seem like a Tim Burton-esq kinda girl, so she would be different than the rest of the Guardians. I know that because I made her like that, the rest of the story is going to be a bit odd, but this is what I wanted to happen. Oh, and I've been taking french for my whole life, but it's hard for me to write in both languages in one story, so here's the translation :**

**1. Yes yes! I thought I heard something over here!**

**2. There's nothing here Garret, you're stupid. **

**3. Why do you have to go somewhere every time you think you hear something that doesn't exist?**

**4. Okay... It was nothing. **

**5. Under the Palais Garnier, in one week, my dear.**


	2. Chapter 2

Back at the Role, and after informing the Man in the Moon that Kathryn was safe, they all gathered near the Globe of Believing Children.

"Okay, now we gotta figure out Sheila's powers, because _obviously_ she had more than she's telling us." Bunnymund said, motioning to Kathryn, who was sitting on the desk.

He was referring to the fact she could walk through walls. She smirked. "I told you, I haven't figured them ALL out yet." she said sweetly and innocently.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Then tell us your powers that you DO know." he said.

"Do I look like a walking biography to you, Frostie?" she asked. He laughed without humor.

"You sure talk enough to be one." he replied flatly. She yelled in frustration, crossing her arms and turning back to him.

"Smart ass." she grumbled.

"Dracula." he replied.

"Frostie freak."

"Snot goblin."

"Winter weirdo."

"HALLOWEEN FREAK."

"OLD MAN WINTER."

She blew her bang from her face, before North stepped in. "Jack, go check on the elves to make sure they aren't doing any harm." he said.

Jack grunted and flew off, and they all turned to Kathryn again. "So what powers do you know about?" North asked.

She rolled her eyes. She was clearly pissed off. "Levitation, pyrokinesis, invisibility, necromancy, but with mostly animals like Zero, humans are harder, instantaneous self-healing, shape shifting, and particle shifting. I also have OCD but that isn't really a power. It just means when I aim for something, _I never miss. _Those are all the ones I know about and can control." she replied. "And whatever "having my own tunnels" is."

"Wow..." Tooth said. "Those are some pretty amazing powers."

"Not when you're the one with them..." Kathryn mumbled. "Anyway, why did Pitch say that Tooth could help me?"

They looked at each other. "Kathryn, what can you remember from your past?" Tooth asked.

"I already told you this. I can only remember up to a couple of months ago, and then it's a complete blank. I can remember bits and pieces, but it's foggy. Like, I'll remember places, but I won't remember what meaning they have to me or how I know them." she said.

Tooth looked at North, and he nodded. They knew the Man in the Moon had said he was trying to keep her from figuring out something in her past, but they felt she deserved to know what she forgot.

"Let's go to the Tooth Palace." she said softly.

. . .

"Kathryn, every time a child loses a tooth, I retrieve them. Those teeth contain their most precious memories. That's probably why you can't remember other things, but you can remember places. It wasn't the important part of the memory." Tooth explained.

Kathryn held herself, watching the fairy. As she watched Tooth, she thought about Jack. She felt kinda bad about arguing with Jack earlier, but she couldn't help it.

_I'm just no good with things that are alive... _she thought.

"So you could find my teeth and give me my memories back." Kathryn said, putting the pieces together. She flew around the Tooth Palace excitedly.

Tooth flew up and brought her back down. "Yes, but I need to know what era you were born in." she said.

Kathryn bit her lip, and thought for a minute. "The Dark Ages. I turned seven during the Dark Ages." she replied.

Tooth smiled and buzzed off, zooming to different compartments. "K-A-T-H-R-Y-N, right?" Tooth asked.

Kathryn nodded. Tooth went to one, and took something out. She came down, and Kathryn took the container in her hands. She looked down at the diamond designs, her fingers gently grazing it.

She remained silent as she opened the container, to reveal the contents of the box. She stared at them. Her eyes widened with shock and confusion.

Tooth looked down at the box, and back at Kathryn with a horrified look.

"That's impossible. There can't just be ONE tooth. That's impossible. It says here you should have at least seven teeth." she said quickly. Then she paused. "When did you die?"

Kathryn looked taken aback by the question, like she had been insulted. But she also had a distant look in her eyes. She was trying to remember.

"I can't remember turning ten." she said, like that was the best answer she could come up with. She gave Tooth an apologetic look.

"Seven teeth exactly. You died when you were nine. I can remember you, from back in the Dark Ages. You lost a tooth when you were three and accidentally swallowed it, but you started choking on the tooth, and your throat ended up bleeding. You almost died. I remember you. Kathryn Greene." Tooth said. "But that doesn't explain where the other teeth are."

"Wait a minute..." Bunnymund said, clueing into the conversation. "When Pitch stole the teeth all that time ago, maybe he wasn't after all the teeth at all! He took the fairies, because they were trying to stop him, and he took all the containers, because he didn't have enough time to look through them! He wants to bribe Kathryn, so he was looking for your container, for when he was finally strong enough, you would join him, with the gain of your memories."

There was another small silence, before Kathryn and Tooth made the silent decision to play the only memory in the container. It was Kathryn in the woods, at age seven.

She was with a man, that was most likely her father, but she didn't have enough of the memory to see his face.

. . .

_"Daddy look!" Kathryn said, pointing to a raven in the tree. It looked like it was standing guard for the two, watching their surroundings, and then looking down to them. _

_The father chuckled. "Good girl Kathryn. The ravens will be your strongest allies. I made sure that once I'm gone, they know to look after my baby girl forever and always, and do as she says." he replied. _

_The voice, they couldn't quite recognize, but they knew they had heard his voice somewhere before. They just couldn't put their finger on it. _

_"Like a Queen!" she chirped._

_He chuckled again. "Yes. Queen Kathryn. Sounds nice, but I think you're more of Daddy's Little Princess." he said. "But every Queen needs to look like her subjects."_

_"They're so pretty! I can look like a raven?" she questioned, head tilting partially to the side, hair flopping into her eyes. _

_"Yes. You're a very special girl Kathryn. When I'm gone you'll take my place, and you'll be the strongest one yet. But remember, know your place, pick your fights, remember who you are, and take time to master your powers." he said. _

_Kathryn suddenly looked upset, and thunder rolled in the distance. "Daddy, stop saying you're going to leave! Why can't you stay? Mom and I want you to stay here with us! Don't go!" she said, tears coming to her eyes. _

_The father made a noise, and they could tell he hated the thought of leaving his daughter. This little girl was his whole world. He hugged her. _

_"Kathryn, you know I love you and your mom more than anything on the planet. I would never want to leave her, or especially you. But bad people are after daddy. They want to hurt me, and they'll do anything to get me to come to them. I have to face them, to keep you and your mother out of danger. But these people are going to take my magic. They're very bad. And I know I won't be there in the end, but as long as you are both safe, I'll be happy." he explained. _

_Kathryn looked up at him, new tears forming in her big poison green eyes. "I can fight! You said I would be powerful. I can help you!" she pleaded. _

_"No sweetheart. Your time isn't yet. But please, remember, if I die, you of all people will still be able to see me. Knowing you, and your stubborn ways." he said, poking her belly. She giggled. "But if you see my after Lydia tells you I died, you CANNOT tell ANYONE. They'll think you're insane, and you'll be killed. They'll accuse you of being a witch. And I can't let that happen. So promise?"_

_"Promise." she replied. _

_"Good girl." he said. "Daddy's girl."_

_She smiled, and then another voice called out in the distance. "Dinner's ready!" a woman called. "Oh, where have you two gone? It's going to rain!"_

_"We better get back. Hopefully your mother didn't cook that stinky cabbage dinner again." the father said to Kathryn, and he must've made a face, because Kathryn laughed. _

_"Yeah! That was smelly and gross." she said, giggling and holding a finger to her nose. She scrunched up her face. _

_. . . _

"My dad knew I was going to become a Guardian..." Kathryn murmured to herself.

Tooth closed the container, and flew back up to where she got it from.

"I hate to cut this trip down memory lane short, but we probably should hed back to make sure Frostbite hasn't frozen the place." Bunnymund said.

Everyone looked at each other. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea." they all agreed.

. . .

"Find anything?" Jack asked half-heartedly, leaping down from the second floor railing once they came back.

"Why do you care?" Kathryn replied immediately, defensively. Jack rolled his eyes.

"I _don't._" he replied. "But Guardians are supposed to be _nice. _Maybe if you stopped prancing around on your high horse and realized you aren't better than everyone, you could learn it, princess."

Kathryn rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. But the thing was, she actually looked hurt, and didn't reply with another snarky remark. She gave Tooth a look that said, _Say something. Get him to stop. He's annoying me. _

"Jack, can I talk to you?" Tooth asked. Jack looked at everyone around them individually, and gave Tooth a look.

Tooth continued, "Can I talk to you... privately." she said.

Jack shrugged, and they went off. And then North turned to Kathryn, who was tapping her fingers against her leg and humming quietly, her eyes closed, as if there was music that only she could hear.

"Good luck with her." Bunnymund chuckled, and he and Sandy walked away.

"Kathryn, I think we should talk too." North said.

Kathryn opened her eyes, and for a minute, she just looked purely lost. Then she ran her fingers through her hair, and she nodded.

"Okay." she muttered, jumping down from the desk she was sitting on, and followed him.

. . .

"Jack, you need to try to be nicer to Kathryn." Tooth said. I smirked and chuckled without humor.

"I just tried. 'Didn't turn out too good. I don't get why you're talking to me. She's the one who starts it." I said. "Not everything is my fault you know."

"I never said it was," Tooth said. "But she might act like she's this tough, strong girl, that can take anything, but she isn't. You need to know that you can hurt her, and you just did."

I gently tapped my fingers against the wall, causing a snowflake to appear on the wall with the frost. I made it come off the wall, and it danced between my finger tips.

"Yeah, right." I snorted. "Kathryn, wild rocker girl, walking skeleton, got hurt by me stating the truth? Uh huh. Sure."

I didn't mean for that to come out as rude as it did, but Tooth didn't show any reaction to it. She bit her lip.

"Jack, she's been alive for centuries. She's been alive since the Dark Ages, but she can't remember anything up to a few months ago. She has trouble expressing her emotions the right way, because she's been alone for her whole life. Zero was the only one she could talk to, and it didn't matter what she said to him, because Zero loves her unconditionally. She's had nobody to talk to, it is a bit hard to change your habits on the turn of dime." she said.

I glanced back at the area everyone had been, and I saw Bunnymund and Sandy had left. North put his arms around Kathryn's shoulder, leading her up to his little personal workshop.

"You and her are actually a lot alike. Kathryn is a trickster at heart, but she has felt a lot of pain. I know she has a temper, but she can't help it. You have a story, I have a story, we all have a story, except her. She that's why she's been so defensive and sour to us all. She can't do anything to get people to see her, so she's spent most of time alone. She died when she was nine years old, so she never got the chance to learn how to talk to people." she said.

I paused, and stared at the closed-door of North's workshop. Tooth continued.

"Jack, I know you're sorry too, so don't make it look like everyone is her fault. She has trouble trusting people, after what happened to the last boy she was with..." she said.

I stopped and looked back at her, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean, after what happened?" I asked.

Tooth stopped and covered her mouth. "Oh dear, I think I've said too much..." she said, a little embarrassed.

"C'mon, tell me!" I pressed, but she just shook her head, giving me a look.

"It's not my place to say. I don't think she even wanted me to know." she said, "You're just going to have to ask her yourself."

I grumbled. "Tooth, you saw her! She doesn't want to talk to me, let alone be anywhere near me! How _can_ I ask her?" I said.

"Be gentle with her. Tonight, every one of us, besides you both, are going out. I'll be out collecting teeth, Sandy's taking care of the dreams, Bunnymund is scouting out good egg hiding places, and North is making sure his normal route doesn't need to change this year. Talk to her then. But as stubborn and strong-willed as she is, she's also very sensitive. Don't be too rough on her or else you both will be in a place where your friendship will be hard to fix." she said seriously.

I looked away and furrowed my eyebrows. I kept thinking about Kathryn. _She was alone for so long... She never had anyone to talk to, and she has trust issues. Yeah, this will be easy to fix. _I thought.

"I never said she was my friend anyway..." I said.

I felt Tooth's small gently hand touch my face, and guided my head for I was looking at her, her eyes full of seriousness and understanding.

"Don't lie to yourself, Jack." she said softly. "I know we haven't known her for long; but I also know you care about her just as much as we do, even a little more. I know you would protect her from Pitch until your last breath. You're like her older brother, and I know you look out for her like a little sister. But don't let your stubbornness cloud your judgement, Jack. I think she could use a friend like you right now."

I paused and looked down at the ground. "I'll talk to her tonight."

. . .

I wasn't even looking at North. I sat in the chair to his desk, as he walked around behind me, near a bookshelf. I've always loved books. They always feel like an escape. Escape from the Man in the Moon, the expectations I have to live up to, my responsibilities, everything.

I wiped the tears I didn't know were coming from my cheeks.

"I know Jack can be a little... erum... thoughtless, sometimes, but he didn't mean that. He didn't mean to hurt your feelings." he told me.

"Don't talk to me like I'm a kid. I'm not a kid." I replied harshly, but quietly.

"I'm sorry." he replied. "But Jack could be a great friend to you. I think maybe you should forgive him."

"Why are you talking to me about apologizing to him? He was the one that hur- he was the one who started it. I'm surprised he's a Guardian. He's a stubborn, hard-headed, piece of sh-" I said.

"Kathryn, Jack's not like that." he said, cutting me off.

I remained silent, listening to whatever he could come up with to back up that unrealistic statement.

"Jack, as you know, can be mischievous, reckless, rebellious, and sometimes make the wrong decisions." North said. _Note taken, _I thought. "But he has a good heart. I know you don't trust people, especially after what happened to that man Philippe, but Jack, however, is not like that."

I looked up at North in shock, and saw his eyes held great seriousness. My palms felt sweaty. "How did you know about Philippe? Nobody knew about him! I didn't do anything!" I stuttered, and then I brought my knees to my chest and tucked my head in, covering my head with my hands.

Fresh tears formed. I felt like I needed Zero, but Zero cannot be out for more than a couple of hours. I'm not powerful enough. I thought of Philippe. I thought of all the accusations. I thought of him right before they buried him.

He put a hand on my shoulder. "I don't, well, not a lot. Tooth told me that you knew a man named Philippe de Changy, and after he died, you secluded yourself even more. Would you like to talk about it?" he asked.

I looked down at the floor, and my face felt hot. My voice sore. "Not now. 'Wounds are too fresh." I muttered.

"Okay. If you ever change your mind, I'm here. But anyway, Jack was alone for 300 years, and the children couldn't see him. _Just like you. _I know that's not nearly as long as you have, but still. He never had a friend he could count on. But he still went around the world, bringing winter and joy to the children everywhere. But deep down, he knew he was alone." he said.

I stared at him, and a sad, surprised look crossed my face. _I never knew that part..._

"Why would I tell you this? Because I know it doesn't seem like it, but you are already one of the closest people Jack has ever had. If he lost a friend like you, a piece of him would be lost, too. He seems to always have a strong face, but his heart can be very fragile." he said.

_I never knew that... he was alone for so long... like me. _I thought.

"So, now do you understand why he would be upset if all you both do is fight?" he asked. I nodded silently, completely ashamed of myself. "Getting angry is just the only way he knows how to show he cares, and I have a feeling, it's yours too. But you both are learning, and that's good."

There was a long silence. I continued to stare at my feet.

"You two have a strong connection." North said, and I looked up at him.

So many questions came into my mind at once it immediately gave me a headache. I closed my eyes and grunted silently, and only one question managed to leak out.

"How can you tell?" I asked.

North smiled warmly. "I can feel it..." he said, and he grabbed his stomach. "...in my belly!"

I stared blankly at him, and then I felt a tug at the corners of my lips. I snickered, and then burst out laughing.

"What? My belly is never wrong!" he said.

I covered my mouth, trying to quiet myself. I cleared my throat. "Okay..." I said, my laughter slowly subsiding.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, so... ****This chapter is a descriptive chapter more than anything, but around the end of this chapter, when Kathryn and Jack are talking, and he asks her a question, I need you to remember her answer. Her reply is something that's going to basically bring the story's beginning and end together, and make the story so much better. So I need you to remember what she says to Jack's last question.**

* * *

Bunnymund had told me to rest before dinner. It had been a long day, and according to North and Bunnymund, I needed to sleep. They figured I would be tired.

He told me that one of them would come get me for dinner.

I knew that I was _supposed _to be resting, just as Zero was, but I couldn't. It was night time. I've always had a hyperactive brain at night, or at all times, so it was always difficult for me to rest or take naps. I guess you could say I had minor ADD. The one benefit to my powers is I don't actually need to sleep, because I can enter a waking meditative state to regain strength.

For me, there was just always something worth thinking about.

But I _do _get tired easily. Zero's life-force is technically tied to mine, since he was a ghost from my own spirit, so we were very similar. Zero can't be out for more than a few hours, because he needs to rest, and I can't control him for more than a few hours without rest. Just having my dog here, with me, exhausts me.

The sun is another thing that exhausts me. That's why I usually stay in the catacombs during the day. I always just assumed it was because my uncle was the Man in the Moon, so I'd get stronger at night.

During the night, I feel free. While the world slept, the most amazing things happen. I like the night. Without the dark, we'd never see the stars. In the latest hours on night, people are willing to pour their heart and soul out to anyone who would listen to them. The night has a strange, but wonderful, effect on people.

I was once told; dreams don't have to exist while the sun's down and your eyes are closed.

My thoughts drifted towards the cold wall, and then to Jack. I thought about how we were going to be left behind tonight, together. I thought of my apology to him.

That weighted on my shoulders like a block of lead. _Something is going to go wrong. Something is going to go bad. It can't be that easy. Nothing is ever easy._

I looked around my room. After they showed me the room, and explained that I should stay here until they sort out things, I had immediately memorized every part of my room.

Earlier, North explained how he had five, now six, rooms at the Pole for when the Guardians had to stay at the Pole. They were charmed to always be suited for the person staying there, and the Guardians only used them when something big was happening and they had to stay together. We were all here now, because I was new and they had Pitch to worry about. Each room was square, with one bed and a window.

My room, in my opinion, was amazing. My room was white and black for the most part. The only light in my room came from a big crystal chandelier, which had immediately reminded me of the chandelier from the Palais Garnier. The crystals gave off a white glow, since the light reflected from the constant view of the moon. The room was pretty basic, but yet elegant and pretty.

I didn't care much though, it's not like I was planning on staying long.

The door to my room was black, gold and silver. It was black for the most part, with a gold trim and a silver design. When you walked in, it seemed like night, no matter what time of day it was. Everything had that beautiful glow that a full moon would give a forest after a snowfall.

The bed was connected to the wall, and had white and silver sheets, with white and gold pillows. The pillows were fully white, with a golden greek design on the edges. The blanket looked to be pure white, but when you moved, silver would glimmer through the plain color.

In the far left corner of the room, connected to the wall and the bed was a closet. Not for hanging clothes or anything. It was literally just an empty room with a wooden floor and wooden planks for walls. I had created a life-like skeleton and hung it from the ceiling, just for a laugh whenever I thought of _skeletons in the closet._

In the center of the white walls, was a charmed window. North told me through the window I could see whatever my mind wanted to see most. Through the window, it would always be night. The window itself had a thin black woven trim, with a small design on the corners with black and silver, and on the top middle of the window was another design. It was two black weeping willow trees on either side, and then in the center was a black pumpkin patch. One bigger pumpkin stood out from the rest, and it was bright orange.

I knew that North thought that taking care of graveyards was my 'job', like it was for Jack to make snow and screw up people's plans, Sandy to give dreams, Tooth to collect teeth, et cetera, but no, I just thought that graveyards were nice. It was a quiet place to go.

On the right wall, and on the wall that the door was in, was a giant bookshelf built-in to the wall. I had to admit, there were some good books there. Books from ancient Roman and Greek philosophers, my favorite ghost stories, and so many more.

The walls were all white, except for the silver greek design at the top and bottom. The floor was all black and marble, with gold greek design around the edges. Grass sprouted up from the edges between the walls and the floor, which I didn't necessarily understand, but it looked nice.

The ceiling was also black, but when it was _actually _night time, the stars directly above me would appear on the ceiling.

The wall closest to my bed, the one I lay up against, was cold to the touch. I knew that was Jack's room. Bunnymund had told me he doesn't use it a lot though.

_Frostbite doesn't like to stick around for long. 'Spirit of Winter, a free spirit. He only uses the room if there's a reason to stay. North has the Pole, I have the Warren, Tooth had the Tooth Palace, Sandy has the Dream Palace, and you have the Palais. Jack doesn't like to stay somewhere for too long, and since he controls the snow, when he has to he stays here. _He had told me.

I knew what it was like to be a free spirit. I _was _one, but I always had to return to the Palais Garnier, because the Man in the Moon said that was where I belonged. I was almost a bit sad, and a bit jealous that Jack could go anywhere he pleased.

I quietly sang a song that the pumpkins in my tunnels had once sung to me. I had no idea where they learned it, but one day they just began singing it.

My pumpkins were charmed to talk to me, sing me songs, or to scare away trespassers. They also got tired quickly, so when nobody was in my tunnels, they would sleep.

I lay on my stomach in the bed, with my white sheets nestled around me on my lower back. I twirled my fingertips against a blade of grass on the floor.

I then closed my eyes and concentrated. "_Yala onna_..." I whispered.

That was something I never understood. There was a language stuck into my brain, for as long as I could remember, that didn't actual seem like a real language. Nobody knew it. I understood it, as if it were my native tongue. But I knew it wasn't. My native tongue was french, and I learned English when I was really young. But sometimes I'd slip into the other language, without even noticing, and it was difficult to switch back.

I heard a hiss, and I opened my eyes. I smiled. The grass slowly turned into a dark green-ish black snake, and slithered up my arm.

That had been one of the powers I had that I wasn't really good enough to say it was officially a power. It was kinda too witchy to be a power anyway.

The snakes ruby-red eyes met mine, and it hissed at me. _Everyone hail the Pumpkin Queen, _it had said. I could completely understand it.

"Hey buddy..." I said quietly. It tilted its head, and then suddenly turned back into a blade of grass, fluttering to the ground.

"Damnit," I grunted. "I gotta keep working on that..."

Someone knocked on my door loudly, and as a force of habit, I rolled over on my back, and disappeared into the shadows of the wall. The door opened slightly.

"Kathryn," a voice said, slightly annoyed.

_Jack._

Of course they'd send _him_ to get me.

He poked his head into my room and grunted. "Come'on Kathryn. I know you don't like me, and you know you're not my favorite person in the word, but North said I gotta look after you." Jack said.

I grumbled, my staff appearing in my hands. I reappeared inches from his face. "I didn't say you had to look after me, Jack. I can look after myself." I spat. "_Auta miqula orqu._"

I walked past him, and he followed me towards the dining room.

. . .

The Dining Room was huge, and away from the workshop. I almost felt like it was a new place.

It was so amazing that I stopped, and the only thing that brought me out of my amazement was when Jack came up behind me. He put his hand on my lower back, almost to usher me forward.

But then he leaned forward. He whispered into my ear. "_Auta miqula orgu? Ha! Lasta lalaithamin." _he said.

I turned around so quickly I nearly pushed him down. I stared up at him in shock. "_Lle... Lle... _urm.. ahh..." I struggled to change back to English. "Y-You can understand me?"

He smiled, actually nicely. "I can understand more than you would expect - like learning to understand your native tongue." he said.

"That's not my native tongue!" I defended. I didn't like it when they just assumed it. I didn't even know where it was from. "I don't even know where I learned it."

"The Man in the Moon said he taught you it. He taught me bits and pieces." he said.

He then walked past me, going to his seat. I looked at the table.

It was long, and stretched out for most of the room, but everyone still sat decently close together. There were six throne-like chairs, each specialized to the person sitting there. The only common thing was that they all had gold on it somewhere.

At the head of the table, closest to the fireplace, was North's seat. It was the stereotypical Santa's chair that you would see in malls during Christmas. It was a big red chair, with a gold button-like design around the edges of the red and the green cushions. Little presents lay around the bottom.

Tooth sat next to North. Her chair was light pink, with gold and blue diamond designs, just like the Tooth Palace. It had two pillars on either side, designed to look like teeth.

Sandy's chair was golden, and seemed to be made from his dream sand. The chair shifted so much, I couldn't even describe what it looked like. He sat next to Tooth.

Bunny's chair reminded me of a cobblestone path. It was green, with gray cushions that looked rock solid. The chair morphed into grass on the top, with, of course, golden easter eggs hidden in it. He sat at the other head of the table.

So Jack and I sat on the other side, next to each other.

Jack's chair was probably the plainest here. It was plain white, and had light blue icicles hanging from it. His chair was sparkly, like fresh snow, so it had all the metallic colors in it. Gold, silver, you name it. It was very plain and simple.

He sat down, and looked back at me, almost to say _Stop standing there like an idiot. Come on._

My chair, in my opinion, was the coolest. It was a black chair, with the cushions having thin black and white stripes. The two sides of the chair twirled up into black spirals, with a gold stripe running through each twirl. Two glowing jack-o-lanterns sat at the points of the sides. Spider webs hund between the two spirals, and it had a similar design to the window in my room. I looked at the pumpkins.

_All hail the Pumpkin Queen... _I thought, and I grinned.

I went over to my chair, and when I sat down, I realized my chair was designed to have a big back. It was almost as big as North's chair. I felt like a child sitting at the adults table for the first time. Small and unimportant.

"Hello Kathryn," Tooth chirped. "Did you take a nap or anything?"

I shook my head, and some of my hair fell next top my face. I tucked it behind my ear delicately. "I couldn't," I said. "I think too much."

Jack hadn't even looked at me once he had sat down. I glanced in his direction a few times, but he would just stare at his feet or straight ahead. He didn't speak at all, to anyone.

The Yeti's came in and brought a waiter's cart filled with food. They placed the food in front of everyone, and one of them grumbled at Jack.

I glanced over at him, like I was expecting him to look back and explain something to me, but he smirked at the Yeti.

"Hey Phil." he said.

When my food was placed in front of me, I almost cried. At the Palais Garnier, ALL the food was croissants, buns, escargo, salad, and everything up that alley.

_Rich people food. _I remembered someone who had worked there had called it that.

And they gave me rare steak with what smelled like pumpkin hot chocolate.

My favorite.

I looked over at Jack again, and saw he had pizza and what looked like hot chocolate. I figured everyone ate their favorite food, or something like that, because North was eating fruit cake and peppermint soup.

I ate with my hands, since it wasn't like I was trying to impress any of them. Plus, that was how I always ate.

Jack laughed at me. Not to make fun of me or anything, just a genuine laugh. It was nice to hear. He had a cute laugh. _Wait, did I just think that? _I questioned myself.

I shook my head, running my fingers through my hair. "Jeez Kathryn, you look like you haven't eaten meat in years." he laughed.

I paused and smiled back at him. "If you eat bread, salad, and snails for 3000 years, you'd have the same reaction." I replied.

He raised an eyebrow. "What?" I said innocently. "People in France actually eat snails. Did you think that was a myth or something?"

He chuckled and nodded. North and Tooth caught my eye, and I noticed they both were smiling. Then I realized something else.

This was the first time since they brought me here that I talked to Jack without arguing.

After dinner, I followed everyone into another room, which led us to the room with the Globe of Believing Children, to say goodbye to the four Guardians for the night.

"Okay, so we're going to go out now. Try not to kill each other, please?" Bunnymund joked.

I smiled, feeling my fangs brush against my lips. "I'll try, but I don't know about him." I replied, motioning to Jack. He laughed.

. . .

After Tooth, Bunnymund, North and Sandy had left, Kathryn immediately had gone to her room. She hadn't talked to me since.

I figured I should check on her, to make sure she's okay or whatnot, so I quietly floated out of my room, to hers.

Before I even opened the door I could hear her.

Her voice was like a cool breeze. I couldn't exactly hear the words, but the song sounded plaintive and bittersweet. It was slow and peaceful, but it sounded sad.

"Home is behind.. the world ahead... and there are many paths to tred... Through shadow... To the edge of night... Until the stars are all aligned... Mist and shadow... cloud and shade... All shall fade... all shall... fade." she sang quietly.

Her words seemed to put me in a trance. She sounded like she was walking around the room, not flying. I hadn't realized how long I had been standing there until the door flew open and Zero barked at me.

"It's not nice to listen in." she said with a slight tone of anger.

I looked passed her, and saw that a few books were missing from the shelf, and there was a small bag sitting on her bed. She was packing.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

She turned on her heel, her leg going through Zero. He didn't seem to mind, as he reformed and brushed against her leg. She shot me a look. "None of your business." she replied.

I followed her into the room. "Well, it kinda is. North said I had to make sure you were okay at all times." I said.

She laughed dryly. "Well, I'm fine. I'm going to Vancouver." she said. "Happy now?"

"Why Vancouver?" I asked. She slung her bag over her shoulder.

"Zero told me I died." she said simply. I raised an eyebrow.

"What?" I said.

"I'm running late and if it'll get you to shut up... You can come with me." she said, biting her lip.

Before I could say another word, she laced her fingers between mine. My hand tingled at the sudden contact. I was a bit surprised to find that her hands were just as cold as mine.

She walked both of us towards the window. She looked at her other arm, and I realized she had written stuff all over her arm. The view from the window sudden shifted, and Kathryn looked at Zero.

"Zero, stay." she said. The little white ghost dog sat and wagged his tail. Kathryn smiled.

Then she pulled me into the window.

. . .

Jack and Kathryn were sitting up in a giant oak tree. "Where are we?" he asked. He looked around. They were in a graveyard.

She gave him a look. "I've already told you. We're in Vancouver." she said.

The air was cool and damp. You could smell the woods, and especially the oak tree. They was some snow, but surprisingly not a lot for the early months of winter in Canada.

He looked at her, and he was a bit surprised, because her appearance had changed.

She had pale blue eyes and pouty lips. She had long dark hair. She was tanned and tall, with two leather cuff bracelets and a big blue ring. She wore skinny jeans and a white button up shirt that she had tucked in. She wore a black jacket with big brass buttons and cuffs, and a brown fringed bag hung from her shoulder. She had a tattoo on her hand. She wore small cowboy boots. She had dream catcher earrings in, and a bead necklace.

He gave her a look, but she didn't notice. "Okay, I need you to stay here and don't say a word. I will only be a minute." she said. Even her voice had changed.

She hopped down, and she completely disappeared. Jack then saw a little girl walk silently through the little paths in the graveyard to the headstone underneath the tree he was in.

Jack tilted his head and looked at Kathryn, who was crouched behind the tree. She was see-through, like a ghost.

The little girl had brown and blond hair that went down to her shoulders, and she was tanned. She had light green eyes, and wore a light green necklace to match. She had on a white tank top, and a white see-through button up shirt that she had pushed the sleeves up around her elbows. She also was wearing jeans and cowboy boots with rhinestones around the top. Her belt had a big clip. She had the same tattoo as Kathryn did on her hand, on her shoulder.

Jack tilted his head and moved slightly to watch from a better view. The girl placed a blood-red rose on the gravestone underneath the tree. It was beautiful.

"I love you..." the little girl whispered.

"Hi Autumn." Kathryn said quietly and calmly, stepping out from behind the tree. She crouched down to the girls height.

The little girl gasped and ran forward to hug her, but Kathryn took a step back. She laughed and smiled. "Sorry kiddo, I don't think hugs really work." she said.

The little girl nodded. "Kristina? Is it really you?" she asked.

Kathryn nodded. "In the flesh! Well, not really... In the spirit!" she said poking the girls belly, and the little girl let out a small giggle.

Jack assumed that if Kathryn wanted, as a 'ghost', she could touch someone, only if she wanted. But if they wanted to touch her, they would go through her.

Kathryn gingerly placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Autumn, I love you so much, but I will be gone for a bit okay?" she said.

"What? Where are you going?" she asked.

"Somewhere I can be free. A better place, Autumn." Kathryn said. "I just wanted to come and say goodbye."

Autumn looked at Kathryn dead in the eye, and for a second, Jack wondered what Kathryn was going to do next. "When will you be back?" Autumn asked.

She chuckled. "I don't know, to tell you the truth." she replied.

"Will you visit?" Autumn asked.

Kathryn glanced up at the winter spirit looking down at her. He had a look on his face she couldn't read, and it was beginning to snow softly. "I can't promise anything, but I'll try. I will try my hardest." she said.

"Okay..." Autumn said, a little disappointed.

Jack and Kathryn heard a bark in the distance, and they both knew it was Zero. Autumn didn't seem to notice. "Autumn, I have to go now. I love you." she said. "Tell mom and dad I love them."

"I love you too, Kristina." Autumn said.

A call rang out in the distance, around the edges of the parking lot. "Autumn! We have to go now sweetheart! It's getting cold!"

As Autumn turned to leave, Kathryn grabbed her arm, and for a moment, she sounded like Kathryn again. "Wait," she said. She held out her hand.

A little silver necklace was in her palm. It was about the same size as her locket, but instead of black it was silver. On the locket, was a picture of a white stallion, turning and galloping. Kathryn clicked the necklace open, and Jack saw there was a small note in it.

"I wanted to give you this." Kathryn said. She closed the necklace again, and gently put it over Autumn's head. "Keep it close. Because as long as that is close, I'll be close too."

Autumn smiled. She ran off, and Kathryn turned back into Kathryn. Once Autumn was out of sight, in a swirling flash, Kathryn turned back into herself. Zero then arrived, barking and wagging his tail. He brushed himself up against her legs, and she picked him up.

"I told you to stay." she scolded, but she kept smiling.

Jack hopped down from the tree, and made his way over to Kathryn and Zero. "How do you plan on getting back to the Pole?" was the first thing Jack asked.

Kathryn smiled, and Zero tucked himself up between Kathryn and her dark green cloak that had appeared. It was loose and long, and covered a decent amount of her. The late autumn evening _was _getting cold, but Jack didn't mind. When she reached her hand out, the cloak pushed back enough he could see Zero's face sticking out. Kathryn laced her cold fingers around Jack's once again.

Jack felt a tug on his back. It was like a giant hand was pushing him forward. Then he looked around them. It was dark, and it was like the three of them were traveling at light speed, always just keeping ahead of the rising sun. He started to feel dizzy and tired.

And then it all stopped.

The dizziness, the tiredness, the tugging sensation, it was all gone. He realized they were standing just outside the Pole, on the balcony near Tooth's room that she used if she needed to go back to the Tooth Palace.

He looked at her with a million questions floating through his head, but they all disappeared when he saw her. Kathryn rubbed her eyes tiredly, and leaned against Zero. She yawned and when she tried to take a step, she stumbled.

She fell, and Jack caught her. "S-Sorry." she muttered. "I'm not too good at travelling through the shadows with another person yet. It wipes me out."

He chuckled. "S'okay. I got you." he said, wrapping his arms around her. He got that same tingly feeling on his hands and forearms, but he ignored it.

He wondered why she didn't take out her staff, but he didn't question her about it. She was probably too tired to take it out, or she simply had forgotten about it.

They both walked to the little hallway, in front of both of their doors. Kathryn leaned up against the thick railing, eventually hopping up and sitting on it. Jack shrugged, and sat next to her.

. . .

Kathryn and I sat up on the railing in front of our doors. She had convinced me to face the opposite direction, overlooking the entire workshop.

With out feet dangling and our arms locked out straight, we sat up on the railing and talked. She told me about that girl, Autumn, and what had happened to her sister. Her sister had died in a car accident with a drunk driver a few weeks ago.

"Why were you learning that language from the Man in the Moon?" she asked after a while.

I tilted my head. "What?" I questioned.

"Earlier. You told me that the Man in the Moon was teaching you to speak my _native tongue."_ she said, doing air quotes on the last part.

I shrugged. "He told me it would do me some good to learn a bit about you. You're a very weird girl, Kathryn Greene." I said. She smiled.

"That's how I like it." she replied, and I laughed.

She yawned, and before I could react, she had tucked her head into the crook of my neck. I didn't say anything. I didn't dare move her, because no matter how weird or stupid it sounded, it felt _right _having her next to me. Like this was how it should be.

We talked a bit more. She talked about her life before we brought her here, in the Palais Garnier, and I talked about the Guardians.

When I realized she didn't know the stories about Sandy or Tooth or Bunnymund, I told her about those. She listened attentively. I quickly learned how great of a listener she was, and how great of a person Kathryn was to talk too. She listened quietly while you talked, and only speak when she needed.

I made a joke, and Kathryn laughed - a clear, happy sound that made my heart go _ka-pump._

As if she realized she was laughing, she quieted and brushed some of her hair behind her ear. Her pale white cheeks turned a light shade of red.

"Why do you always keep your hair in a bun?" I asked.

She shrugged. "I don't like having my hair down. It gets in my face too much." she replied. "Plus, I'm so fidgety some times my hair down would just annoy me."

"Most of its out of your bun anyway." I pointed out.

She bit her lip, then reached up to her hair. She took her hair down, and her long cinnamon-brown colored hair fell around her shoulders.

"Woah..." I accidentally murmured, and my cheeks turned a brighter shade than Kathryn's had been.

I'll admit, Kathryn was beautiful. _Annoyingly _beautiful. With her hair down, she looked even better. I was glad when Zero appeared and barked at her, pawing at her leg.

She giggled, picking up the dog. "What? You don't like that I'm giving attention to Jack?" she laughed.

Zero happily licked Kathryn's face, then proudly nestled himself between us. We laughed.

. . .

As the two floated towards their bedrooms, they both continued talking as friends. After a while, Kathryn joked and said that if the Guardians thought they didn't hate each other, they'd think they both were brainwashed or something.

Zero tiredly flew through the door, and Kathryn opened the door. Right before she went in, Jack looked at her. "Back at the graveyard, I wanted to ask you. Do you do that to everyone?" Jack asked.

"What?" she said, turning and standing in the doorway.

"Do you do that to everyone?" he repeated. "Like, becoming the ghost of one of their loved ones."

She paused. "No," she replied simply, after a moment. "I just don't think it's fair to have a love one taken from you, without being able to do something about it, or say goodbye."


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, in this chapter, there is a time elapse of one week and like, three days. **

_I was in a beautiful forest, but I had no idea where I was other than that. _

_All the trees were a dark green and moonlight peeked through the branches. In the middle of the forest was a bridge, and it had an old-looking design on the side. The bridge was white, but in the darkness it looked grey. _

_A stream trickled underneath it on the rocks and through the plants. Two people stood on the bridge, in the middle. It was a man and a woman, holding each other in each other's arms. _

_The man was lean, dark and tall, with shaggy dark brown hair flecked with grey, greyish blue eyes, and a stern pale face. He must've been at least 6"6. He had a slight scruffy beard and pink lips. He looked handsome and noble, as a King would. He had crinkles by his eyes when he smiled. _

_The woman looked young, but at the same time, not. She had long dark brown hair down and in loose ringlets, tied back from her face. She wore a circlet-like-crown, with silver lace netted with small gems, glittering white. She was as pale as snow, and the moon was bright in her eyes. She had minty green eyes. She wore a long creamy-white dress that had straps, but also a sleeve that covered her hands and hung down with the rest of the dress. She wore little makeup, only wearing gold eyeshadow. Her lips were cherry blossom red. She wore a necklace, with a silver chain and a white jewel. I could actually see some slight resemblance to Kathryn, but the similarities ended there. _

_They began talking, and I listened. They weren't whispering, but they were both being very quiet. They spoke in the language Kathryn would slip into when she got confused, angry or too excited._

_"Do you remember when we first met?" the woman said in the odd language. _

_Her voice was clear and hung on the air smoothly, making me feel like I had heard it somewhere before. I didn't know where I would have heard it, though. She seemed SO familiar, but at the same time, I knew I had never seen this woman before in my life._

_"I thought I had strayed into a dream." the man replied._

_He had a deep, calm voice. He spoke slowly, but with wisdom. He almost sounded like he was making a rumbling noise in the back of his throat when he talked. He sounded old, but looked quite young. A weatherbeaten forty-five, at the most._

_"Long years have passed..." the woman said, and she looked up at him. She stroked the side of his face with her fingertips. "Do yo remember what I told you?"_

_The man paused, and he traced his fingers over her necklace that glowed in the moonlight, as she seemed to do to. _

_"You said that you would abandon the life your uncle gave you, forsaking the immortal life of your people." he said gently, in English. _

_"And to that I continue to believe." she said. "I love you, my fair man, and I would rather spend one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone. Being immortal does not come with no sorrow."_

_Their eyes met, and she held his hand. She then took her hand off of his, and he opened the closed fist to see her pendant with the silver chain. "I choose, a mortal life." she whispered._

_He looked back at her. "You cannot give me this." he said quietly. His eyes looked sad. _

_"It is mine to give to whom I choose," she said, and she paused for a moment. "Like my heart." _

_She closed his hand around the pendant, and they both stood in silence for a moment, admiring each other. They kissed. __When they broke apart, the man took the necklace and put it back over her head._

_"Then you shall keep it for me, until I ride West." he said. _

_She smiled and placed her hand on the pendant now hanging from her neck once more. She looked up at him and he smiled, kissing her forehead. _

_"I shall keep it for you. It shall be your good luck charm on the road, and when you return once more, my father will see you as a great champion, son," she said, and she paused. "and King." _

_He smiled, holding her close to him. "I cannot promise you that everything you hope for will come true, my lady, but with everything in my power I will make you happy." he said. _

_She smiled, leaning up and they kissed once more. _

_. . ._

The dream faded out, and I woke up.

At first I was purely confused. I completely had forgotten where I was, and even who I was. The one thing on my mind was that woman and the man she was in love with.

What happened to them? Who were they? Why did I dream about them?

North's strong voice filled the air, going room to room waking everyone up for breakfast, and snapping me out of my thoughts. I heard him get close to Kathryn's room, so that meant mine would be next.

"Good morning Kathryn!" he said, knocking on the door. He only ever knocked on Tooth or Kathryn's door, with ours he didn't care.

"Don't stand in the doorway!" she called sleepily.

The next thing I heard was Zero barking excitedly, and a big _thump. _Kathryn giggled. "I warned you." she said.

I smiled and got up, kicking up my staff and catching it mid-air, and walking out of my room just as Kathryn helped North up. I assumed Zero had knocked him over when he opened the door.

I chuckled, but then I froze. I saw what Kathryn was wearing.

Her long cinnamon-brown hair was tied into a side braid which cascaded down her right shoulder, and her eyes almost looked duller than usual, because today they were a brighter version of minty green, instead of the normal bright poison green. She wore three black bracelets - wait, no, it was the locket she usually wore around her neck, wrapped around her wrist, and a white ribbon tied in a little bow on her wrist other. Her lips were cherry blossom red, and she wore a plan creamy-white dress. Exactly like the one from my dream.

_Had Kathryn been the one from my dream? _I wondered. _No no, the woman from my dream was at least 25, Kathryn doesn't look older than 18. _

Then I was even more surprised, because when North got up, thanking her, and going to Tooth's room down another hall, Kathryn shot me a glare.

It was like nothing had ever changed between us, and she was still the girl she was the day she came here two and a half weeks ago.

When I went down to breakfast, everything was normal. Tooth ate and talked quickly, ordering her fairies sometimes with her mouth half full. They always understood her. North was jolly as ever, telling us another one of his stories we've all heard a million times. Bunnymund was making a carving on his boomerang, and Sandy was snoozing away.

Kathryn looked around, as usual, staying quiet and paying attention to a gazillion things.

That was something I had learned she does A LOT over the weeks she's been here. She does have trouble with focusing on more than one thing at once, say, everything going on at this table at once, but she is a fast thinker, so she can switch between things, and zone other things out. It's confusing, but she does it all the time.

At this point, I had gotten used to the fact Kathryn is one of the most misunderstood, amazing, annoying people I would ever meet. She could be this sweet, funny girl for a bit, and then the next day she could be ready to break my neck.

Right now she was in between them both. She looked happily at the others, but she would throw the occasional glare.

Yep. The normal Kathryn.

. . .

After breakfast I quickly went away from the others, Zero following me at my heels. He whimpered slightly, rubbed his eyes with his paws, and yawned.

I knew he wanted to rest. I was exhausted too. "You can go home." I told him, petting his head, and he disappeared.

I walked around the few quiet corners of the Pole. I always managed to find the little secret hallways, the dark corners, the little hideaways in a building. It was like my sixth sense.

My dress trailed behind me and I walked slowly. It was quiet. Too quiet. I liked quiet, but for too long, I would go stir-crazy. Silence for too long made me go nuts.

I quietly sung a hymn from 100 years ago, in Greece. A street magician would sing it to her clients as a form of good luck, promising them a happy and long life.

I sat by the windowsill I came across, on stared through the glass. The North Pole was getting dark, preparing for the long months of night, and the Aurora Borealis was shining in the stars.

I watched them, mesmerized as the bright red, green, and blue danced across the sky.

My uncle had always told me the Aurora Borealis was only shown to the people who needed to see it. If they needed them for guidance, support, whatever they could be interpreted as, they would appear. They would appear when needed.

I wondered why I could see them now.

"I figured I would find you here." he said, surprising me.

I didn't respond to him but continued to stare out the window. I wasn't doing it to be mean or anything, I just didn't feel like talking to anyone today.

Jack stood up on the windowsill by my feet, and looked down at me. "Go away Jack." I said in a muffled voice, as my face rested on my knees.

"What is with you today? We were actually not half bad together for a week, and now you hate me again." he said.

I looked up at him and I felt like my blood ran cold. "I don't hate you Jack!" I defended quickly. "I-I just.. um.." I stuttered.

"You just what?" Jack questioned.

"I just... I've lost a lot of people in my life. I don't like getting close to people. I already have too much to regret in my life, and I don't want you to be the next one." I said. Once I realized what I had just said, I blushed.

I rubbed my left arm a bit, awkwardly. Jack stuttered, and I noticed his cheeks were red too. "Kathryn... I..." he tried.

"Save it, Frostie." I said quickly, standing up and flying down towards the Globe.

. . .

I ran around the Warren happily, jumping off the egg statues and the highest trees and stopping a few inches before the ground, scaring Bunny half to death.

I liked the Warren. It was big and wide-open. and somehow it made me more hyperactive than I usually was.

Right now I was painting a boomerang that Bunnymund had given me, telling me he had five boomerangs, and all the Guardians painted one. I sat cross-legged, examining the wooden weapon.

"This isn't leveled correctly." I stated, staring down the piece of wood.

He hopped over to me. "What?" he asked.

"It's not leveled correctly." I repeated. "It's too heavy on one side. You'll miss by a few inches each time unless you don't aim directly at them."

"How do you know anything about the correct weight? You don't have any weapons, Sheila." he said.

I smiled. "I practice with my powers. I can still use weapons. I'm great with swords, and that's how I know this isn't weighed right." I said.

He raised a furry eyebrow. "Is that so?" he said.

I grinned. "Are you challenging me, Bunny?" I asked. He smirked at me.

"I think so." he said.

My long sword appeared in my hands, the silver shining, and I gripped the black leather hilt. The sword had a silver pommel that was longer than usual, but was made to balance the sword better. It had a black leather grip, and then a long polished silver blade. Up one side of the sword, written very small, was an inscription. It ran the length of the sword, right near the edge. It was written in that weird language Jack told me my uncle taught me.

_The old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost. _

I did not understand it at first, but I had learned to take what I had and ignore it. I always thought of it as a good luck charm. A little courage in the darker times.

"Now watch and learn, Bunny." I said, smiling. It felt good to hold my sword again.

I summoned the ghost I always started practice with. It was glowing white, and it's face was gruesome. A mixture of decomposing flesh, a pure skull, and a blackened void all at once. It had a sword in its hands and screeched an ear splitting noise, and I laughed.

It charged at me, and I quickly dodged.

I laughed and swung, easily killing it. Or rather, killing it again. I flew off laughing and making ghosts appear, completely forgetting about Bunnymund. I heard him chuckle as I flew off.

. . .

"So, is Peter Cottontail having fun with Princess?" Jack asked, and Bunnymund rolled his eyes and turned around to look at him.

"What are you doing here, Jack?" he asked.

Jack laughed and jumped down from the tree branch. "Eh, North sent me here to check on you guys. The others were too busy." he shrugged, resting his staff over his shoulders.

Bunnymund smiled. "Tooth said she wouldn't be busy all day. The fairies are taking care of everything today to give her a break." he said, and Jack's cheeks flushed red.

"Okay... maybe... I sorta... Offered to come." Jack admitted. Bunnymund gave him a look. "Shut up!"

"I'm not going to say anything, but I think it's good you wanted to check up on her. Try to stay with her, especially tonight." Bunnymund said.

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Why?" he asked.

"Don't you remember, Frostbite?" Bunnymund said. "When Kathryn first came here, Pitch told her to meet him at the Palais Garnier in two weeks. Tonight."

* * *

**Sorry it isn't a long update, but the next chapter is going to be decently long. I wanted to try to do some good cliffhangers in this story, so I decided to stop there. **


	5. Chapter 5

I tapped my foot impatiently, unintentionally creating a little snowstorm over my head. I leaned on my hand, and I saw North glance at me. He quickly turned back to Bunnymund and Tooth.

I knew they were talking about me, and I knew they thought I couldn't hear them. Or I wasn't paying attention enough to care.

"-he's been like that since she left. He's just anxious." Bunnymund said.

"It's a good thing!" Tooth said. "He's getting comfortable with her. He cares about her."

North stroked his beard, something he did when he was deep in thought. "This could be a bad thing. He cannot become too focused, or he will be distracted. He needs to focus on defeating Pitch. They both do." he said.

"They're strong kids, North." Tooth said. "They'll be fine. You should stop underestimating them."

I knew what they were talking about.

A few hours ago, around lunch, Kathryn had gotten really quiet, and refused to talk to the Guardians. She passed by me a little later, and whispered that her throat felt sore.

Then she was gone.

She had locked herself in her room, and we haven't seen her since. The only signs we've seen from her is the occasional visit from Zero. He would look for someone to play with, or some food. Other than that, she'd been completely quiet.

I got up silently, surprising the others. I think Tooth forgot I was there, as she jumped a little. Bunnymund have me a look, asking what I was doing.

I quickly went up to my room, and before I touched the door handle, I looked at the door next to mine. I took a breath, and went over to her door.

"Kathryn," I said quietly. I touched the door handle, and was surprised to find it unlocked.

There was a small noise from the back of the room. "Mmhmm."

I opened the door, and scanned the room. It took a minute for my eyes to adjust to the darkness of her room, and then I spotted her in the back corner of her bed. Her white dress seemed to glow in the moonlight, from the window.

"Hey," I said, speaking quietly, as if to an injured animal. "Are you okay?"

Kathryn was lying with her back against the wall, and her blankets were covering her legs. Her eyes were closed, and she had her head to her knees. She had her arms wrapped tightly around her stomach.

Since I've known Kathryn, she always seemed to have this white-ish silver glow in her skin. Right now, it seemed to have faded. She looked unnaturally pale, even for her.

"Huh?" she said, looking up at me. Her voice was raspy. "Oh, yeah. I'm fine. I'm just... I'm just really, really tired."

"Tired? That's your excuse?" I asked, smirking.

She laughed quietly, but it sounded painful. She coughed a bit. "Leave me alone while I think of a better one." she said.

I rolled my eyes, and smiled. I sat down near her on her bed. "Where's Zero?" I questioned, noticing the absence of the ghost-dog.

"He's resting. He's pretty wiped." she replied slowly.

"He's resting, or _you're _resting?" I asked.

I knew that having Zero around for too long made her tired, but _not _having him around made her restless. She pouted, and then smiled.

"What's with all the questions, Jacky?" she said.

I grinned. "That was a question." I stated. She rolled her eyes and laughed, but that quickly turned into a cough.

A minute later she looked back at me, and I looked at her eyes. I noticed that her bright green eyes actually looked like they had a bit of silver in them.

The longer I looked into her eyes, the more colors I could pick out. Her eyes seemed to be made up of a kaleidoscope of colors, that just appeared to look a poison green. They were made up of blues, golds, reds, yellows, silvers, greens, and browns.

Realizing that I was staring, I quickly looked away. My cheeks felt hot. I noticed she was blushing too.

That's when I noticed her hands. Her hands had little scraped and bruises on them. This wasn't a huge thing, but it made me nervous. She was supposed to have the power for instantaneous healing.

She noticed I was looking at her hands, and she quickly tucked them under her blanket. I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah, that..." she said. "I don't know, for some reason I haven't been healing as fast as I normally do, lately. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

She smiled, and patted my cheek. Her hands were warm, and that made me even more nervous. "You shouldn't worry about me, Jacky. I'll be fine." she said.

. . .

Around 11 o'clock at night, I woke up from a long nap. It seemed like it was my hundredth nap that day, but I didn't normally sleep for long periods, anyway.

I wanted to call Zero, but Jack had been right. I was too tired. Jack was right, summoning him takes a lot out of me.

I silently opened my door, and slipped out into the hall. My staff appeared in my hand, and I used it as a walking stick. I couldn't shake the dizzy feeling I had.

The Pole was oddly quiet, so I knew they had stopped for the night, and North was asleep. The Pole basically shut down from eleven at night, until six in the morning.

My ears morphed into bat ears, something that didn't take much strength, and as I walked past the doors, I listened to each room.

I heard Bunnymund and Tooth snoring peacefully away, in their separate rooms.

I walked past Jack's room, finally, and I couldn't hear anything. I didn't want to risk opening his door, and waking him if he was asleep. But I couldn't hear anything. His room was too quiet.

Assuming Jack was asleep too, I slowly went over to the Globe, and I looked up towards the Moon. It shone bright and big.

"Care to explain this, _dearest Uncle_?" I asked, putting my arms out wide, motioning to myself. I rolled my eyes. "I figured as much."

When my Uncle told me about the Palais, however many hundred years ago, he also explained that I would never age, I would never get sick, and I would never lose my powers.

So now that I was getting sick, I knew it was a matter of time before his other promises failed too. I was sick. I was dying.

Suddenly, I remembered Pitch. He promised me that he could give me back my memories, and so far, he's the only one who has been completely truthful to me. Should I meet him?

My whole life, well, as much as I could remember, I've wanted my memories. I've wondered so much about the past.

What was I doing before I became who I remember today? Did I have a family before I became a Guardian? Did they miss me? Did something happen that made me forget? Why did I forget?

Pitch could answer _all _of my questioned.

And I was too tired to think straight. I slowly floated off the ground, and closed my eyes. I mumbled the door spell, that my Uncle had taught me. It would bring me straight to the Palais.

It took a lot out of me each time I used it, so I didn't use it a lot, but I would be fine.

Everything would be fine once I got my memories back.

. . .

I stood on the roof of the Palais Garnier. It was cold, but my skin had felt hot since I started to get sick. The Moon was full, and there was not a breath of wind.

"I see you've decided to take me up on my bargain." Pitch stepped out from the shadows, alongside his personal Night Mare.

"I've come to see what the bargain was." I replied. He paused, and he looked me up and down.

"Kathryn..." he said, with a sudden weakness in his voice. "You're sick..."

I raised an eyebrow. "So? Why would you care?" I asked. Pitch shook his head, as if coming out of a daze.

"I don't. I'm just surprised. Didn't your uncle _promise _you he'd make sure you'd never get sick?" he asked. He smirked. "I guess he lied to you, like he's been doing all along."

"I don't need to rely on my Uncle for everything." I spat. "I can take care of myself."

He disappeared, and reappeared behind me. He placed a hand on my shoulder. I froze. "Really? You've grown so much from the scared little girl I knew." he said.

"Enough talk. You know my memories." I said.

He stepped out in front of me, again. "Yes," he said. He raised his arms, and a little black box appeared in his hand. "You used to have an interest in Pandora's box, didn't you?"

I felt weak. _How did you know that? _I thought. I nodded, unwillingly responding. I don't know, I just felt like I should. A small part of me felt like I could trust Pitch. I was getting _so close _to my memories.

"Ah, you haven't changed. You see, my dear, I know your memories, because I was there. I have your memories too." he said. My eyes grew wide. "I was there the day you were born."

"You're lying." I said. He smiled.

"I'm afraid I'm not, Kathryn Greene," he said. "I'll give you this one as a free one to prove my point. We've had a history, Kathryn."

He waved his hand and the air started to shimmer. An image appeared.

. . .

_"Aww, she's adorable!" a woman, obviously a maid, cooed. _

_She tickled the young child's belly, and the baby giggled. The baby opened her eyes, and they revealed big minty green eyes. It was Kathryn. She laughed again, and grabbed the air, looking at the other woman. _

_The mother smiled, looking to the door. A man appeared. _

_Pitch. _

_But it wasn't Pitch. He looked human. He was tall, at least 6'1", and had light brown hair. He was pale and had sea foam green eyes. He looked happy. _

_The mother smiled, holding Kathryn in her arms. "Isn't she beautiful?" she asked. _

_Pitch stood over Kathryn, and smiled. Kathryn held on to one of his fingers when he brushed the side of her face. He stood there for a moment, just admiring her. _

_"What did you decide to name her?" he asked. _

_"Kathryn." _

_. . ._

"You see Kathryn, I was there the day you were born. I knew your mother." he said.

I stood there for a moment, wide-eyed. _Pitch... wasn't lying... _I thought. _He was there the day I was born... _

He held the little black box out to me, for I could see it. It had a fancy lid, with silver designs on the top.

"But picture this little box to be like Pandora's Box. If you open it, you'll get your memories back, but you will also send a message to me, that you give up, and you'll join me." he explained.

"How is that like Pandora's Box?" I asked.

He tossed me the box, and I caught it. It was cold to the touch. "Only curiosity will make you open it." he replied.

"So what do you get out of this, if I never open it?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I know you'll open it eventually, because you are one of the most curious girls I've ever known, but for arguments sake, nothing. If you never open the box, I will get nothing." he said.

His Night Mare reared and stomped its hoof against the ground. I instinctively held a hand up, and it came over to me, nestling it's nose into the palm of my hand. Pitch smiled.

"And about your sickness." he said. "Come here."

My feet worked against my better judgement. I took a step closer to him. He gave me a sick smile.

"Good girl. You can trust me." he said. "You know you're getting _Nam Venenatis Pulsantes_, don't you?"

I nodded. _Nam Venenatis Pulsantes _was Latin for Magically Poisoned. It was meant for when someone with powers (or "magic") used their powers too much, and their body can't generate enough strength to keep itself working, and to feed the magic. Your powers start trying to fix the sickness, but by doing that, it only makes it worse. Your powers start working against you, and it will literally kill you. _Nam Venenatis Pulsantes _is a literal death sentence.

I knew I got it because I was pushing myself too hard. The Guardians expected so much from me, because I was the Man in the Moon's niece, so I was using my powers too much. I was killing myself basically because I was showing off.

If somehow, someway, you can survive it, you will never have a limit to your powers again. But nobody has ever survived it. That's why witches died out in the 19th century.

And I was dying.

He gently took my left arm. He moved away the loose sleeve on the long white dress, and looked at my bare arm. He brushed his hand over my arm, and my skin started to feel cold.

He took his hand away, and I looked at my arm. I saw where Pitch touched it, was a black rose. A tattoo. "What's that?" I asked.

"It should stop your sickness from going any farther, at least, until you can heal." he said. "don't worry though; those stupid little Guardians don't need to know what the tattoo is for. If they know, it stops."

I was fine with keeping the tattoo a secret. I'd rather them not know about my dealings with Pitch. They didn't even know I was here.

A sudden dizzy spell caused me to stumble forward, and Pitch steadied me. He chuckled. "It won't help the dizziness, though." he said.

For once, for one slight moment, I saw the good side of Pitch. He wasn't entirely evil. He was just misunderstood, that's all. _Like... me... _I thought.

He took a step away from me, and I gave him a strange look. I still felt dizzy, and he kept an arm on my shoulder. "Why are you helping me?" I asked.

He made a face, that I can honestly say, scared me. "Keeping you alive is _helping _me, more than you will ever know." he muttered. "Until then, _quel esta, ma petite_."

_Sleep well, my dear. _

Suddenly, a shout rang out, breaking the peaceful quietness of the night. "Kathryn!"

_Oh no... _I thought. I looked towards the sky, and saw North's sleigh. I sword, and Pitch shot me a look. "You were followed?" he asked, furious.

"No." I said. "I was figured out."

Jack jumped down from the sleigh, flying at full speed towards us. I moved my arm for the tattoo would be hidden, as if on instinct. I groaned.

"Pitch!" he yelled, and shot ice down towards us. It hit the ground in between us, and seperated Pitch and me by an ice wall.

I placed a hand on the wall, and my tattoo started to feel colder. Pitch looked at me, then got on his Night Mare.

"Remember our deal, _Pandora_." he said, steadying the horse. "You've always been a curious girl."

Pitch disappeared, and the wall of ice melted quickly. Jack flew down in front of me, and grabbed my arms, making my head spin.

"Kathryn! Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" he asked.

Before I could think, I growled. Jack took a step back. "I was _HANDLING _it Jack! I was _FINE_!" I spat.

He stuttered, and I rolled my eyes. "_Bite me._" I said. "I was so close to figuring out thing in my past, and you ruined it! That could have been my one chance to figure out who I was and why I died when I was so young, and you blew it!"

"Kathryn, I-" Jack started.

"Save it, Frostie." I said, and I floated into the air.

. . .

I lay on the window ledge in my bedroom. I stared at the starry night sky, deep in thought. Zero was curled up on my lap. Ever since Pitch had helped me, I had enough energy to keep Zero out for a bit.

_Pitch helped me. _

I couldn't get over that. Pitch Black, the man who was supposed to be evil, gave me the things I lost, and helped me. More than the Man in the Moon, my oh-so-great uncle, ever did.

I started to wonder, was Pitch really that bad? I started to list off the pros and cons between my uncle and Pitch, in my head. I thought of Pitch first.

_Pros : Gave me my memories back (well, not completely, but technically he did), he was a generally nice person to me, was misunderstood like me, and basically saved my life. _

_Cons : Anything the Guardians have told me. _

Everything bad I knew about Pitch, was the stuff the Guardians told me. I realized I've never actually seen him do actually e_vil _stuff. I held a grudge against him, simply because I didn't want anything to do with the Guardians or the Man in the Moon, so Pitch was one of them.

I then thought about my uncle. Everything I've had to deal with over the last hundreds of years. The frustration, the crying, the begging. And nothing. He only started to talk to me once I came here.

_Pros : I could live forever, and I don't even know if that is going to last much longer, now that I'm getting sick. _

_Cons : I could live forever, and everyone expects so much from me. He's never helped me for anything. I spent years not knowing who I was, besides who I am today. He never even offered to help me, and hasn't talked to me in years. He expects me to turn out like him, and looks critically at me for anything I do wrong. He expects me to be perfect. _

Wait, why am I listing this?

I knew the differences. But was I really fighting for the right side? Was the Man in the Moon, the Guardians, and all that, really that good?

The Guardians bring children joy. That's what I was told. But did they really?

Jack made snow. Fun to play with, but what about all those poor souls that don't have a place to go during the cold winter nights? All those people and animals that freeze to death in the snow?

North brings children toys, but if you do one thing naughty, you get nothing. No matter how good a person was, if they make one mistake, it outshines all the good things they've done. It's the same story with drunk driving. No matter how good a person was, if they make that one mistake, they're forever known as "that person that died in a drunk driving accident."

Tooth takes people's teeth, and leaves money in their place. So what does that teach kids? Selling parts of your body is okay, until you reach a certain age, and then nobody wants you anymore?

Bunnymund leaves eggs. That's stupid enough as it is, but what about all those kids who have a different religion, so they don't celebrate Easter? What about those kids with allergies, so they sit sad, watching their friends have fun?

Sandy brings dreams to people. What is so harmful about that? But what if that person _deserves _to have a nightmare? If someone did something horrible, or even as simple as cheat on a test, how come they get to have peaceful nights with happy dreams? All I can remember from my life was always having nightmares. Maybe that's why I held a grudge against Sandy.

But then I realized that even a seemingly perfect Porcelain doll has its flaws. Even though the Guardians do, and will, make people safe, they still bring joy to many others.

You can't make everyone happy, because if you're making everyone happy, you most likely aren't happy yourself.

And they were the closest thing I have to a family. Well, a family made up of three brothers, and a sister, consisting of a 6'1" rabbit with an Australian accent, a short chubby guy that never spoke, was impossible to understand, and was completely made of gold sand, a winter asshole, and a humming bird-like-fairy with millions of mini-selves.

Oh, and let's not forget the Russian father, who runs the North Pole and makes children's toys, and has tattoos.

Family.

That's at least what it felt like, and I couldn't stand to lose them. This was the only family I can remember, and I don't plan on them turning out like my last one.

And yet I still manage to get mad at them.

I groaned. "What have I _done_?"


	6. Chapter 6

I sat alone in my room, again. I stayed in my room a lot, lately. It had been since I had met up with Pitch, because the Guardians were treating me different. They were hiding something from me, and I knew it.

I hummed quietly. The silence of my room was driving me insane.

I looked over to the book shelves, and the little black box Pitch had given me drew my attention once again. The box seemed to draw my attention often, but nobody else who had been in my room since I got it ever noticed it. That just caused me to look at it further.

The black box was plain and simple on the sides, pure black with glossy paint over it. The top was flat, with designs carved into the wood. It was a pure white tree, with eleven branches spread off of it. Under the tree, in silver handwriting, written in the odd language my Uncle had taught me, said -

"_Not all that have fallen are vanquished;_

_A king may yet be without crown. _

_Renewed shall the bonds that were broken, _

_And new courage that was lost shall be found."_

I didn't understand those verses at all. I didn't know why they were on that box, or where Pitch had gotten them from. But at the same time, I felt as if I had heard that as a poem, or something similar, before.

I wondered how Pitch knew it.

Thinking of Pitch, I looked at my wrist. The black rose seemed to haunt me. Whenever someone got too close to me, I thought they would see it and it would go away. I was afraid I was going to die.

Before I met the Guardians, my life was simple. I didn't fear anything, and I only really cared about Zero. I lived in the Palais Garnier, with no responsibilities. I didn't need to fear anything.

I didn't have to collect teeth all night, I didn't have to make snow, I didn't have to give dreams. I didn't even have a job once a year like North and Bunnymund.

I didn't need to do anything. I wasn't needed.

_Why did I come back as a Guardian, then? _I thought. All the other Guardians are important and have jobs to do. I didn't like that. I didn't like having things expected of me. I liked to do whatever I wanted, with nobody telling me otherwise. I really wasn't important.

I looked out the window I was sitting next too. It was closed this time, because I was feeling cold. It was a feeling that I couldn't shake. I realized that I often sat on the windowsill when I was tired. I think I've even been caught napping there a few times when I was sick.

I honestly think I slept more on the windowsill than I did in the bed, that usually looked untouched and un-slept-in.

I think it was because I was close to the outdoors. I never really felt comfortable being indoors, because I always felt like there was a limit to what I could do.

I guess it goes back to the whole 'free spirit' thing.

I watched as the black, starry night sky turned into a dull, dark grey. The roof of my room turned blank. That was how I knew it was morning, since through my window, it was always night.

As if on cue, I started to hear North going around to the rooms, waking everyone up.

I stood up, and fixed the ruffles in my dress. I wore a purple dress today, similar to the white one I had worn before. I continued wearing the pale gold eyeshadow I had retrieved from the Palais.

I summoned Zero, for he could go for a walk. A few seconds later, he was in front of me. He stretched out his front paws, in the downward dog position, and yawned. He wagged his tail.

North never had a pattern of what rooms he went to in the morning. I heard Bunnymund doing his normal morning exercises, and I heard him going to Jack's room.

"Good morning, Jack!" North bellowed.

I heard him open the door to Jack's room, and I giggled. North always knocked and waited a minute before he opened Tooth and my doors. Bunnymund had told me it was because he had walked in on Tooth once.

With the rest of the Guardians, the guys, he didn't care. He would barge right into their rooms, no matter what.

"North..." Jack moaned, annoyed.

I rolled my eyes and smiled. I knew that Jack slept without a shirt, and he hated people looking at him without his normal hoodie. He hated North coming into his room in the mornings.

I didn't know why he did, but he told me it was just uncomfortable for him.

Zero wagged his tail, and I pet his as I listened to North talked to Jack a bit more. I motioned to the door, and he followed me towards the door. We hid behind the door, and I counted.

I heard North walk towards my door, and when he was about to knock, Zero and I stuck our heads through the door.

"Boo!" I shouted, laughing.

He jumped slightly, and then he laughed. "Good to see you are feeling good, Kathryn." he said.

I grinned. "Of course! I just needed some sleep." I said.

I hated lying to them, but I knew that they were keeping something from me too. Since I had come back from my meeting with Pitch, they were always careful of what they said.

Zero and I stepped through the door, and we all went to breakfast.

I shot a glare at Jack when I saw him, and he tried to apologize again. He's been trying to apologize since yesterday, but I couldn't take it. I wouldn't listen to him.

He made me give up what could've been my one chance to learn about my family. About my past.

I stared at my plate for a bit. I wasn't hungry. Pitch's magic couldn't bring my appetite back.

For breakfast I usually had the same thing; a smoothie with pumpkin, almond milk, banana, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and a cinnamon bun.

Before Jack and I had our second... um... _rift_, in our friendship, he used to joke that I loved cinnamon, and that's why my hair was 'cinnamon-brown', as he called it.

. . .

I sat on North's desk while everyone talked. I didn't speak much. They were finally talking about what happened the night before last, with Pitch.

They were trying to figure out what Pitch and I were talking about, and I just said whatever came to mind, like _"It wasn't important" _or _"I can't really remember." _

"So what did he give you?" Jack finally asked.

I raised an eyebrow, my heart sped up, and my face felt hot. "What?" I questioned. "He didn't give me anything."

I hated lying to them, but I was scared of dying. Suddenly, all I could think of was the little box sitting on my shelf. _Did he see it? _I thought.

"Oh. I thought I saw him passing you something." he said.

"Nope." I said, popping my mouth on the '_p.'_

Bunnymund leaned towards North, and I listened in to what they were saying. I felt the familiar sensation of my ears shifting to bat ears.

_"We're going to have to leave her back. She leaves so quickly to go meet up with Pitch, I don't know if we can trust her." _Bunnymund whispered to North.

I rolled my eyes and blew my bang out of my face. "You know I can hear you, right?" I asked. Then I shrugged. "You were a lot nicer before you turned into a rabbit, Ashburn..."

Bunnymund froze. "What did you call me?" he asked.

I looked up at them, tilting my head. "Ashburn. That was your name before you became a Guardian." I said, confused.

"Wait, Kathryn, what do you mean?" Tooth asked.

"You didn't know?" I asked. I thought they did. My uncle said he told them everything. "With my powers, I know how all of you were before you became Guardians, or in Jack's case, died. My uncle gave me this book, and it lists everything about all of you. Fears, hopes, family, and it shows one memory Tooth will never be able to show you. The memories are your most defining moment, where he decided you would be a Guardian. I know all of your backstories."

"Well?" Jack pushed. "Can we see them?"

I bit my lip, and the tattoo on my wrist felt colder. Everytime I was about to do something that would use more than I should of my powers, the tattoo would become colder. It was like a warning signal.

Slowly, I nodded_. I can do it. Pitch promised it wouldn't make me any worse, and if I use the book it uses a lot less of my powers. _I thought.

I took out my staff, and drew the symbol for the book in the air with the end. I muttered the spell, and the book appeared at my feet. I sat down and flipped it open to the first page.

. . .

_It was a normal winter day in Moscow, Russia. Saint Basil's Cathedral stood tall and mighty in the distance. Snow fell peacefully and quietly down around the busy streets of the town. _

_It was Christmas time, and everyone was happy. _

_A tall, muscular young man with dark brown hair gladly strolled through the streets, a horse following behind him. It wasn't an odd sight; many men had horse companions. _

_A few people waved at him, business owners called out and waved, and he gave them a jolly nod, or waved back. _

_"Staryy Tihonych rugaetsya: "Ys uzh dumal, ty propal!" Van'ka tol'ko uhmylyaetsya - Ya-de sittsy prodaval!" he sang happily. _

_He came to a house on the snowy streets, that looked warm and inviting. Red curtains hung in the windows, and a woman sat alone outside. _

_She was looking up at the sky, watching snow flakes fall down. She had a mug in her hand, with what seemed to be hot chocolate in it. _

_The woman had long dark brown hair, and plump red lips. She had big brown eyes. She was pale, and wore a long white coat. She smiled at the man, and he smiled back. _

_"I see you brought horse." she noticed, speaking with a strong Russian accent. _

_The man laughed, and he had a strong belly laugh. "Petrov is my best friend." he said. "He comes where I go." _

_The woman rolled her eyes, and laughed. "Whatever, Nicholas. The children are excited to see you. They've been wondering when you'd come back." she said. _

_As if on cue, two young children ran from the house. "Father!" they cheered. _

_The man laughed, and grabbed the young girl and boy. He picked them both up in his arms, and they hugged. The children looked just like the man. _

_"Thank you for letting kids stay at your home for a while, my friend." he said. _

_"Any time, Nicholas." she said, and she continued looking up into the night sky, watching the snowflakes distinguishing themselves from the white stars. _

_. . ._

_The sun brought light through the tree tops, and birds chirped back and forth, in a pleasant tune. The trees stood tall and wide, with big green leaves sprouting off of them. The grass was tall and lush, with yellow and purple lilacs bloomed around the trees, littering the grass. _

_A young man sat under one of the trees, book in hand, with his only companion being a small white rabbit. He had a piece of hay in his mouth. _

_He had his legs crossed, and he read in the peace and tranquility. He pet the rabbit every now and again. _

_The young man had curly brown hair, and bright green eyes. He wore brown overalls, and a green shirt. He didn't have any shoes._

_"Ashburn Brooke!" a woman called, in the distance. He looked up, and smiled. "If I have to call you one more time, I'll send the dogs after you!" _

_"I'm coming mother, hold on!" he laughed. _

_He picked up the rabbit and his book, and put them in a little basket he had. The bunny sat happily, and nibbled on a carrot he gave it. He stood up, and ran quickly towards the sound of her voice. _

_He soon arrived on a house, that looked like a quaint little home. He slipped inside the door, and set his basket on the floor. The bunny hopped out, and crawled up on a bed nearby. _

_The woman had long blond-ish brown curly hair. She too had green eyes, and he looked a lot like her. She wore a long yellow dress, and a white dress shirt underneath it. She had a bonnet in her hair. _

_He put his arm around her, and kissed the womans cheek. She was no doubt his mother. She smiled._

_"Happy birthday." she told him. "What were you up too?" _

_He grinned. "Thanks." he said. "I was down in the clearing with Muddy. We were getting a little reading in before supper." _

_She laughed, and shook her head. "I will never understand why you named a white rabbit Muddy." she said. _

_He smiled, and they went over to the table. They both sat, and she held his hands. She admired him for a moment, as a mother sometimes did to their children. _

_"Born the day before Easter, with a pet rabbit. My own son... Some people may think it's bad, but I believe it's a blessing. You'll do great things, Ashburn." she said. _

_He grinned, proud. "I hope so. I wanna bring hope to people." he said. _

_"I bet you will, Ashburn. You'll bring hope to people, all the while helping rabbits anywhere, and reading fine books." she said. _

_He laughed. "Whatever, mom." he said. She smiled. _

_. . ._

_A young child sat in his room, no older than eight. It was night time, and he had a candle lit next to his bed, on a table. He had his legs crossed, and his covers were pulled up around him. _

_The child had light blond hair, and caramel colored eyes. The only sound in the room came from the pencil he was holding, against the paper he was drawing on. _

_He was drawing something furiously on paper, annoyed he could not draw faster. The moment he finally looked satisfied with the drawing, a woman opened the door. _

_"Andy, why are you still up?" she asked, half heartedly. "It's three o'clock in the morning." _

_The boy shrugged, and added a bit more detail to his drawing. _

_She went over to him, and sat at the foot of his bed. She looked down at the drawing, that now looked like a golden plane, with the boy as the pilot. It was good. _

_"Oh." she said, as if she understood now. "Another good dream?" _

_The boy nodded, and they noticed on the floor was a sketch book that said 'Bad Dream Book.' He must've been drawing in the good dream book. _

_He finally held up the sketch book for she could see it. She smiled. "What was it about?" she asked. _

_He pointed at the drawing of himself, which was actually spot on, with the tip of his pencil. Then he pointed at himself. He then pointed at the plane, and dropped the sketch book and pencil. _

_He raised his arms like the wings of a plane, and ran around his room. _

_"Use your words, Andy." she encouraged, when he sat down. He made a face, and rolled his eyes. _

_"I was flying a plane." he said. "Like dad used to." _

_She smiled, and ruffled his hair. "Aww, that is a good dream. I'm sure your father is smiling right now, looking down at you." she said. _

_The young boy smiled. He closed his sketch book, and set it down on top of the other sketch book. The woman stood up. _

_She pulled his covers up, and tucked him into bed. She kissed his forehead, and blew out the candle that was still flickering next to the bed. _

_"Goodnight sweety," she said. "Good dreams." _

_. . ._

_A girl walked up the beach alone. The waves came in and went out, running over her bare feet. The sun was setting behind her. _

_The girl had tanned skin, and long brown hair. She had light brown eyes, that almost looked pink-ish, with the setting sun. She wore gold jewelry, and white robes. _

_Her skirt was long, and was dyed purple at the bottom. Her top was white and plain, like a bikini top. Her stomach was showing, and she had a crystal belly button piercing. She had two golden anklets, and two thick golden cuff bracelets. _

_She was singing to herself quietly. _

_"They say I'm a gypsy, I sing and I steal, but stealing ain't funny, and singing's for real. Can't call me crazy, and know how I feel, so I'll just make music all day..." she hummed. _

_She had a little pouch on the waistband of her skirt, that made a noise when she walked. There must have been coins in the pouch. _

_She walked up the shore, until the sun began to set enough that it was getting dark, and she came upon a little house on the beach. It was in a secret area. _

_She stepped inside, and closed the door behind her. Inside the house was warm and inviting. A cat lay sprawled out on the window ledge, and meowed cheerfully when she went inside. _

_"Hey Babs." she said. _

_The girl untied the belt that the pouch was on, and layed it off to the side. She sat in the chair next to the brown and white cat. She smiled, kissed its head, and picked up a book. _

_On the book, written in gold ink, was her name. Tahlia. She opened the book, and inside there were many pictures. _

_The first ones were pictures of her as a child, with her brothers and their parents. Tahlia looked through the photos, continuing her song from earlier. _

_"You taught me to fight, and you taught me to fly. I learned how to lose, inhibitions and cry. I left what I lost, never second guessed why, so I'll just make music all day." she sang. _

_She looked at another picture, a few years later, and it was her brother's birthday. He was holding a guitar in his hands, and she stood next to him, grinning. _

_She slowly flipped through the book, reliving all her old memories. That was something she did often. Eventually her cat was curled up on her lap, and she fell asleep. _

_. . ._

I paused, and furrowed my eyebrows. "Jack..." I started. "It says here you've already seen this."

"What?" he questioned.

I didn't want to talk to him further than I already did, but I was confused. "Yeah," I said. "It says that you saw it when you where in the snowy mountain crevice, a little over three years ago."

Jack had a look on his face, and I only noticed it for a second, because it disappeared as fast as it came. He cocked his head, giving me a look. I made the scene appear, just as I had with the others.

It was the memory of when he saved his sister.

"Have you?" I asked. He nodded.

We watched as the scene played out, right until his last moments, and the last words he heard - his sister screaming his names. I froze.

"I was here." I said.

Jack looked at me, with such emotion on his face that he was unreadable. "What?" he asked.

"I was here," I repeated, and I waved my hand. The scene froze, and I pointed to a snow filled clearing off to the side. "I was standing right there."

"Then why can't Jack remember you there?" North asked. "And why were you in Burgess?"

"I was invisible to him. I was there with Zero. I remember this day. My uncle told me he needed me to see something, so I went to Burgess. I wandered around for a bit, and eventually ended up there. I saw Jack with his sister, so I moved into the clearing. I - I watched Jack die." I said. "I wanted to save you, because your sister was crying, but I was invisible to you."

"You couldn't save me because I didn't believe in you." Jack said. I nodded.

The Guardians realized how much time they had spent with this, and they quickly went along with business, leaving the room. I got up to leave, making the book disappear.

I didn't pay any attention to Jack, who was still in the room. As I was leaving, Jack grabbed my wrist. I turned around, and he put a hand on the wall near the right side of my face. I knew he wanted to apologize again.

"Just hear me out," he said. _I'm listening. I don't want to be, but I am, _I thought. "I'm sorry, I was wrong okay? I was wrong... I need you. I need you way more than you need me, and I was wrong."

I didn't know what to say at first. "Jack..." I started.

And then he did it. He kissed me. Jack Frost kissed me.

**Hey guys, so that song that North was singing was a nineteenth-century Russian folk song called Korobeiniki. I didn't put the Russian lyrics, I put the transliteration, because my computer can't post the original Russian lyrics. Most of the letters just come up as little squares. **


	7. Chapter 7

_Her hair was wavy, and cascaded down her shoulder in dark brown locks. I noticed that the tips of her ears were pointed slightly. She looked younger than she had before, but not by much. She wore a blue dress, with what looked almost like a brown smock over it. The sleeves of the blue dress were folded up, and the brown dress tied up on the sides. _

_She was tidying a small area, packing away things into boxes. She froze, and then she picked up something from a box. It was a sword. The sword was long, and covered by a sheath, with a belt wrapped around it. _

_She lay the belt and sheath down, holding the sword up. She ran her palm down the flat side of the blade. _

_She then swung the blade, as if she were fighting an invisible foe. She did this for a minute, and when she turned around, her sword met another blade. She froze, and he looked at her. _

_"You have some skill with a blade." he remarked. _

_It was the same man I had seen before, but he was also younger. I assumed this was either in their early days, or this was the moment they met. _

_They released each other from the stand-still, but she held her sword high, near his neck. He lowered his blade, as did she, after a minute. She turned and started to put away the sword, back into the box. _

_"Women of this country learned long ago; those without swords can still die upon them." she said. "I fear neither death nor pain." _

_"Then what do you fear, my lady?" he asked, tilting his head slightly. _

_She looked up at him from the box, and paused. "A cage," she said. "To stay behind bars and watch my life slip away, until use and old age accept them. And then all chance of valor has gone beyond recall or desire." _

_He furrowed his eyebrows, and shook his head slightly. "You are a daughter of kings," he said. "A shield maiden of this country. You will do great things." _

_She looked up at him again, and he put his sword back on his belt. "I do not think that will be your fate." he said. _

_They stood in silence for a minute, staring at each other. Then he got a slight smile on his face. "We need not to worry of this now. We still have time." he said. "There is always hope." _

_She smiled. "It's nice to know you still look to the world so innocently, for a Ranger." she remarked. _

_He grinned proudly. Another man entered the room, who looked remarkably like the woman. The man she had been talking to bowed his head, and walked out of the room. _

_. . ._

I woke up and groaned. It had been nearly two full weeks since I first had dreamt about this man and woman, and then I didn't have any others. I thought it was one and done.

_Who were they? _

I wish I hadn't made it so awkward between Kathryn and me. Kathryn could probably give me some answers with her witchy magic. Maybe she knew who they were. Maybe she could find out why I was dreaming about them.

But I knew that wasn't the only thing I was thinking she could explain. She could tell me what happened to my sister, to my family, after I died.

_She was there the day I died... _

I realized that whether I liked it or not, I think about Kathryn a lot. I didn't know if that was positive or negative yet, but I did. She was one of the most interesting people I've ever met, so I couldn't help it.

The first moment you saw Kathryn, four words would probably come to mind. Forlorn, gloomy, unpleasant, and disagreeable.

But yet I loved it when she was around.

She could be oddly cheerful, and she was a good person. She still looked towards the world with a certain amount of hope that most people who had been around as long as she had would have lost. She had two completely different sides of her personality.

She was beautiful, and just the thought of that was making me sick. I couldn't like her. I _shouldn't _like her. _But you did kiss her, _I thought.

I put my head against the wall and brought my knees to my chest. "Why can't things just make sense for once?" I moaned quietly.

I sat in silence for a bit, and after a few minutes, I heard Kathryn singing softly. It was a nice sound, and I had gotten used to hearing the soft, quiet voice flow across the air late at night and in the early mornings.

Outside Kathryn's window she could go to any graveyard in the world, and she had a favorite one in Greece. It was quiet and abandoned, and nobody really visited it anymore, as everyone who could already died out. She would go out her window and walk around, tending to the older graves, using her magic to fix collapsed graves, and brushing the dust off long forgotten names. She would often sing sad songs, but I never knew what they were about.

I wondered what time it was. The sky outside was slowly getting lighter, so I assumed it had to be at least three o'clock.

I realized that I've never actually seen Kathryn asleep. She was always the last one in her room at night, and she was always awake before North came to her room. And since she was awake now, unless the moment her head hit the pillow she was asleep, Kathryn didn't sleep.

I listened to the words from her song, not expecting to understand it, but then I was surprised to hear she was singing in English.

"_May it be an evening star, shines down upon you... May it be when darkness falls, your heart will be true... You walk a lonely road... Oh, how far you are from home..." _she sang.

I suddenly felt the urge to figure out what she was doing. I knew there wasn't a chance I was going to fall back asleep, and I knew North wouldn't be waking everyone up for a while, so I got up.

I put on my white t-shirt and the normal blue hoodie. Once I put my hoodie on, I saw the frost begin to web across the fabric once again. The frost always disappears the moment I take the hoodie off, but it would always come back.

I silently crept out of my room. The Pole was completely silent, and it was almost creepy. I understood why Kathryn didn't like it when it got too quiet. If I found this bad, Kathryn had the hearing of a bat. The silence is louder to her.

I went towards Kathryn's door and took a breath. I knocked, but there was no answer. The singing didn't falter, so I assumed she wasn't just in her room.

I closed my eyes, and made up my mind. I can't help it, I'm curious. I curled my fingers around the doorknob, and pushed the door open.

As I had expected, she wasn't in there. It took me a minute for my eyes to adjust to the darkness of her room.

Kathryn's room was always dark, no matter what time of day it was. She had all the natural abilities as bats, so I guess she liked it to be dark. Anything white in the room seemed to glow, because of the chandelier and the moonlight.

I noticed Zero was asleep in his dog bed. He snored softly, and every time he inhaled, he would float off the bed a few inches.

_"May it be the shadows call, will fly away... May it be your journey on, to light the day... When the night is overcome, you may rise to find the sun..."_

I silently flew over to the window, not even waking up her ghost-guard dog. I don't think I've ever actually seen Zero without him barking at me.

I looked out her window, and sure enough, there was the graveyard she showed me a while ago. The Mediterranean night sky lit up the ground below with the bright stars and full moon.

Tombstones littered the ground, and in a clearing I spotted Kathryn. She wore a simple white dress that was long and flowed down around her. She was barefoot. Her hair was down.

She was lying on the grass in the clearing. Her hair and dress flowed out freely around her, and she held a white flower in her hand. She was looking at the sky, and looking at the flower in her hand.

I looked away for a second, and when I looked back she was gone.

"Uilos," a voice said behind me. I turned around so quickly I almost fell over. Kathryn stood there, like a statue. A scary one, at that.

She held her hand out, and showed me the flowers in her hand. They were small and white, like blossoms. They did not look like any flower I had seen before.

"They only grow in one place in the entire world. Now you know why I like that graveyard the most." she said. Then she moved over to one of her shelves. "Does that answer your curiosity?"

The way she asked that question, in her steady voice, made me feel uncomfortable. "Sorry." I said quickly, though I was not quiet sure what I was apologizing for.

She shot me a glare, which was amplified in the darkness of her room, and her cold green eyes were like two pieces of ice. I took that as my cue to leave.

I went back to my room and suddenly realized how exhausted I was. I went in my room, dropped my staff by the door, and the moment I lay down, I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

. . .

I heard something fly past my window. Immediately Bunnymund kicked my door open. Realizing I had fallen asleep in my hoodie, I sat up, groggy. I mumbled something incoherent, even to me.

"Trouble at the Tooth Palace." he said. I suddenly felt wide awake.

I nodded, kicking my staff into my hand. "You get Princess, I'll find Sandy." I said, knowing that North was already on his way, hearing his shout orders to his reindeer.

Bunnymund shook his head. "Not this time mate, Kathryn is grounded on this flight." he said.

"What? Why?" I asked, freezing in place.

"She won't tell us what her and Pitch talked about, so North decided to leave her back. The Man in the Moon agreed if we didn't feel like we could trust her, leave her back." he said.

_She's not going to like that... _I thought.

. . .

When we came through the portal on the sleigh, I expected Nightmares to be roaming the skies trying to chase down Tooth's fairies again, and blinding them with their black sand.

But there was nothing.

Not a sound, not a Fearling, or fairy in sight.

"Somethings not right..." Bunnymund mumbled.

"I know," I said. "It's too quiet."

I thought about Kathryn, back at the Pole. We could use her here. She could see something we don't, or hear something we can't. Instead she's locked in the Pole, on constant watch from the Yeti's.

I wondered how they were handling her eminent rampage.

We flew towards the Palace, and we swerved through a small cave and into another cave which held the Tooth Palace.

North landed the sleigh on one of the platforms, and I immediately got off the sleigh. I held my staff up defensively, and looked around. "Tooth!" I yelled.

I started running. The feeling in my gut suddenly went from a lump of coal in the pit of my stomach to a block of lead. I looked around for the fairy, not seeing or hearing her anywhere.

I then heard a faint noise, and flew up to the next platform. It sounded like a horse.

"Look out!"

. . .

I swore and kicked the wall. "I swear when I get my hands on that Frostie Freak I'm going to melt him down, freeze him again, turn him into shaved ice, and throw the remains in a volcano!" I yelled.

I punched the wall, leaving a dent, but of course it fixed itself. The whole room was magic, so I could break as many walls as I wanted, it would just rebuild itself.

The Pole had a gym, mainly for Bunnymund, Jack, or me, but nobody really used it. There was gymnastic equipment there, and the challenge was to do it without any powers. I used it the most.

The point was to keep us in shape, and that kind of stuff. I dunno.

The Pole had all that kind of stuff. It's basically like a big mansion that just happens to also build toys. Down one hallway there's the gym, down another there's a library, et cetera.

I went over and snapped my fingers. Bright green smoke started at my feet, and circled around me, until I was wearing a different outfit. I smiled. That was a trick I had learned last year, but I can only do it if I focus.

I was wearing a tank top and sweats now, my civilian outfit. I never would be caught dead in my civvies, but for working out they're fine.

I jumped up on the rings and did three flips, on the third, letting go, and catching myself again. I did one more flip, then held myself straight up, and then horizontal to the floor. Then I just held myself up with my arms out straight.

I was fine at gymnastics. Even without my powers, I've always been able to do flips and hand stands. I can even walk on my hands. But, again, I would never want anyone to see me doing it. It's to preppy for my tastes.

This kinda stuff was more of a compulsion than anything. I didn't like it, but it was a good way to get my frustrations out.

"Just them..." I muttered to myself. "They don't trust me..."

I threw myself up and did a handstand again on the rings, then another flip. I then let go, did a backflip, and tried to land on these barrels off to the side of the rings. I stumbled, did a tumble on the floor, got up and my back hit the wall.

I yelled in frustration and punched the wall as hard as I could, breaking into the brick. It glimmered, and when I looked at it again, there was no mark.

I yelled again, and went over to the benches.

I whistled for Zero, and he tentatively came over to me. Zero hated being near me in a bad mood, despite he's a ghost and I never would hurt him in my life.

"Hey boy," I said tiredly. I pet his head. "Let's see what those idiots are up too."

I waved my hand, and the air started to shimmer. Zero crawled and sat up on my lap. The image formed, and I saw them standing in a defensive circle.

They were surrounded by nightmares.

I rolled my eyes and laughed bitterly. _"You guys take the ones of the left, we'll take the ones on the right?" Jack asked._

"Think I should help 'em, Zero?" I asked.

. . .

Not again.

We were on another losing side of a battle against Nightmares. We had all taken refuge in the sleigh, in the air, to battle them. North ordered us to stay together, because last time we weren't together in a fight like this, Sandy died.

Suddenly there was a loud popping noise. I looked down from the sleigh, and saw the Nightmares swirling into a vortex of black sand.

Another pop, and a big number of them disappeared. Then I heard a familiar shout. "You owe me big time for saving your butts!"

"Kathryn!" I shouted.

The vortex of Nightmares opened enough that we could see Kathryn. She had her sword in her hand, and her hair was tied back from her face. She wore a dark crimson-red dress that went down just above her knees, with a tight golden belt, her black sandals, and a black jacket. She had something in her hair that looked like a little crown.

She seemed to be glowing a fierce golden color, and flickering red.

It was almost amazing to watch. The Nightmares couldn't even get close to her, she just quickly and calmly swung her sword.

I thought of the dream I had had. "Fly us down there, North!" I shouted over the winds, and he nodded.

When we got closer, I saw something that made my head spin. Normally, the way Kathryn had her hair, I never really looked at her ears. It wasn't really a pressing matter. But the way she had her hair now, in a tight ponytail, I saw her ears clearly.

Kathryn ears were normal, but at the top, they came up into a little point. Her ears were pointed.

Like the woman in my dream.

I don't really know what happened next. I remembered the sleigh touching down, and everyone jumping out. I remembered looking at Kathryn, and her catching my eyes.

"No!" she yelled.

My vision suddenly became blurry. The outlines of my view became black, and the last thing I could remember was falling.

_Falling..._

_Falling..._

And then darkness.


End file.
